Populism in contemporary art can become a dirty word. There is this notion that to not be understood is a reflection of depth. I'm sure this is true in some cases, but on the whole I can't accept this as a vision of art. There's something so cynical about assuming your audience is unintelligent or that artists shouldn't care about their viewers.

The tragedy is that, as modern viewers, we've completely lost touch with what it physically takes to wage a war.

I want the strangeness and weirdness and incomprehensibility of life that art can reflect so well, but I want it to feel like a mystery that is inviting us in. Sagan's great art lesson for me was generosity of wonder and making curiosity contagious.

With nothing to risk, love can't exist.

Even if the effort is bound to fail you still commit completely. It is the commitment that counts for something.

Alteration is a constructive act, not a destructive one, and it's the opposite of most of our impulses.

To this day, I've never had an assistant. I really insist on doing everything myself because I value the role of the artist's hand so much in the process. But that means I have to learn it personally in order to do it.