Because of my Calvinistic upbringing, I was trained to think that what you do has to have a purpose.

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.

History is formed by the people, those who have power and those without power. Each one of us makes history.

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

Buying art is not understanding art.

As 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.

History speaks to artists. It changes the artist's thinking and is constantly reshaping it into different and unexpected images.