I was interested in transcendence from a very early age. I was interested in what was over there, what was behind life. So when I had my first communion I was very disappointed. I had expected something amazing and surprising and spiritual. Instead all I got was a bicycle. That wasn't what I was after at all.
Anselm KieferBecause of my Calvinistic upbringing, I was trained to think that what you do has to have a purpose.
Anselm KieferAs an artist you have to find something that deeply interests you. It's not enough to make art that is about art, to look at Matisse and Picasso and say, how can I paint like them? You have to be obsessed by something that can't come out in any other way, then the other things - the skill and technique - will follow.
Anselm KieferHistory speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images.
Anselm Kiefer