When, at the end of the 1960s, I became interested in the Nazi era, it was a taboo subject in Germany. No one spoke about it anymore, no more in my house than anywhere else.

I believe art has to take responsibility but it should not give up being art.

When I see a new artist I give myself a lot of time to reflect and decide whether it's art or not.

Art is longing. You never arrive, but you keep going in the hope that you will.

I grew up in a forest. It's like a room. It's protected. Like a cathedral... it is a place between heaven and earth.

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.

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.