My drawings have to be quick. If they don't happen in 20 minutes or a half hour, then they're no good.

I think that if you can turn off the mind and look only with the eyes, ultimately everything becomes abstract.

Shape and color are my two strong things. And by doing this, drawing plants has always led me into my paintings and my sculptures.

The most pleasurable thing in the world, for me, is to see something and then translate how I see it.

Making art has first of all to do with honesty. My first lesson was to see objectively, to erase all meaning of the thing seen. Then only could the real meaning of it be understood and felt.

A lot of young painters love to incorporate celebrity. One idea of being a painter is to use what's happening at the time. Velázquez was painting of his time. And so was Rembrandt. And Francis Bacon was painting his time in London. He was a real mover, but he saw the insect in the rose. But yes, when I do a painting, I want to take the "I did this" out of it. That's why I started using chance, like the markings on the wood. I never wanted to compose.

I believe people have to be open to what's happening when they're alive.