I'm cautious about using fire. It can become theatrical. I am interested in the heat, not the flames.

I'm cautious about using fire. It can become theatrical. I am interested in the heat, not the flames.

The main source of my income is through the commissions of the large-scale works and big sculptures, the projects.

I knew the tree when it grew, and the tree is now gone. The farmers cut it up, and it's become firewood. And there's this tremendous sense of absence and shock and violence attendant to that collapsing tree.

I'm very fortunate to be able to do what I do and live the way I do.

There are occasions when I have moved boulders, but I'm reluctant to, especially ones that have been rooted in a place for many years.

I can't edit the materials I work with. My remit is to work with nature as a whole. I find nature as a whole disturbing. Nature can be harsh – difficult and brutal, as well as beautiful. You couldn't walk five minutes from here without coming across something that is dead or decaying.