If I didn't think what I was doing had something to do with enlarging the boundaries of art, I wouldn't go on doing it.

I started to draw buildings. I called them Proposed Colossal Monuments - they weren't for real, not for actual building. It was more a critique of architecture.

I had no idea what art was. There was one art class in high school, but it didn't make a big impression on me. Then I went to college and thought I'd become a writer.

The main reason for the colossal objects is the obvious one, to expand and intensify the presence of the vessel - the object.

It was easy to get a job at the Cedar Bar because people came and went, but I didn't like the atmosphere. Instead, I got a job at Cooper Union Library. I stayed at Cooper Union for seven years; it was my salvation. While I worked there, I also read books of every kind.

In 1958 I finally found a large enough apartment on the Lower East Side, where I reverted to figure painting. I drew and painted quite a lot of figures and nudes. People would come and pose for me.

I am for an art that tells you the time of day, or where such and such a street is. I am for an art that helps old ladies across the street.