Art should live in the heart of the people. Ordinary people should have the same ability to understand art as anybody else. I don't think art is elite or mysterious.

My mother became much older when I came out (ed's note: of detention). She had problems with her hearing and high blood pressure. But they still support me.

I don't personally feel any association with a kind of culture related to state, or culture related to power, which I think is always disgusting.

[Cultural department] understand nothing but bureaucratic daily affairs. They don't care about culture.

If you just turn to your paper or television each day, there are thousands of stories that are much more shocking than the gallery artworks.

Being an artist is more of a mindset, a way of seeing things; it is no longer so much about producing something.

In my case, I was stuck there for quite a while. New York is large enough to be a very abstract city, so nobody cares.