Ruins, for me, are the beginning. With the debris, you can construct new ideas. They are symbols of a beginning.

I never see a forest that does not bear a mark or a sign of history.

Art is difficult. It's not entertainment. There are only a few people who can say something about art - it's very restricted. When I see a new artist I give myself a lot of time to reflect and decide whether it's art or not. Buying art is not understanding art.

The book, the idea of a book or the image of a book, is a symbol of learning, of transmitting knowledge.. I make my own books to find my way through the old stories.

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.

Not content, but the road the artist takes, is the interesting part.

I might have been born into a very literal sense of chaos, but in fact that state is true of all of us.