Don't get the green disease of envy. Don't be fooled by success and money. Don't let anything come between you and your work.

My mother was a restorer, she repaired broken things. I don't do that. I destroy things. I cannot go the straight line. I must destroy, rebuild, destroy again. My rhythm is not the same. My mother moved in a straight line: I go from one extreme to the other.

I dont watch TV. I dont use a computer, a fax or a cellphone.

The twentieth-century artist who uses symbols is alienated because the system of symbols is a private one. After you have dealt with the symbols you are still private, you are still lonely, because you are not sure anyone will understand it except yourself. The ransom of privacy is that you are alone.

My childhood has never lost its magic, it has never lost its mystery, and it has never lost its drama.

The subject of pain is the business I am in - to give meaning and shape to frustration and suffering. The existence of pain cannot be denied. I propose no remedies or excuses.

I was raised a Catholic. But I am not religious. In my work, I am interested in real flesh and blood.