It's only in hindsight that you realize what indeed your childhood was really like.

The role of art in society differs for every artist.

When I was building the Vietnam Memorial, I never once asked the veterans what it was like in the war, because from my point of view, you don't pry into other people's business.

Some artists want to confront. Some want to invoke thought. They're all necessary and they're all valid.

My parents are both college professors, and it made me want to question authority, standards and traditions.

My grandfather, on my father's side, helped to draft one of the first constitutions of China. He was a fairly well-known scholar.

I went through withdrawal when I got out of graduate school. It's what you learn, what you think. That's all that counts.