People think because it's photography it's not worth as much, and because it's a woman artist, you're still not getting as much - there's still definitely that happening. I'm still really competitive when it comes to, I guess, the male painters and male artists. I still think that's really unfair.
Cindy ShermanSo many things suddenly made sense for the clowns, for the whole idea. Iโd been going through a struggle, particularly after 9/11; I couldnโt figure out what I wanted to say. I still wanted the work to be the same kind of mixture โ intense, with a nasty side or an ugly side, but also with a real pathos about the characters โ and clowns have an underlying sense of sadness while theyโre trying to cheer people up. Clowns are sad, but theyโre also psychotically, hysterically happy.
Cindy ShermanI didn't think of what I was doing as political. To me it was a way to make the best out of what I liked to do privately, which was to dress up.
Cindy ShermanI didn't want to make 'high' art, I had no interest in using paint, I wanted to find something that anyone could relate to without knowing about contemporary art. I wasn't thinking in terms of precious prints or archival quality; I didn't want the work to seem like a commodity.
Cindy ShermanI think I always resented the fact that people thought I was trying to entertain them with my multifaceted, chameleonlike character changes. Although I liked doing that, I wasn't out to fool people and say 'Guess which one is me.'
Cindy ShermanI like making images that from a distance seem kind of seductive, colorful, luscious and engaging, and then you realize what you're looking at is something totally opposite. It seems boring to me to pursue the typical idea of beauty, because that is the easiest and the most obvious way to see the world. It's more challenging to look at the other side.
Cindy Sherman