The picture surface recedes just as much in the 20th century as it did in the 15th. The techniques of making pictures have hardly changed.

My language is what I use, and if I lost that, I wouldnt be able to say anything.

A collection makes its own demands. Many artists have been collectors. I think of it rather as an illness. I felt it was using up too much energy.

I dont think you can lightly paint a picture. Its an activity I take very seriously.

I'm vulnerable to criticism. Any artist is, because you work alone in your studio and, until recently, critics were the only way you'd get any feedback.

My friends tend to be writers. I think writers and painters are really all the same-we just sit in our rooms.

I never think that anything I do is courageous.