I saw the Vietnam Veterans Memorial not as an object placed into the earth but as a cut in the earth that has then been polished, like a geode. Interest in the land and concern about how we are polluting the air and water of the planet are what make me want to travel back in geologic time-to witness the shaping of the earth before man.

My dad was dean of fine arts at the university. I was casting bronzes in the school foundry. I was using the university as a playground.

If we can't face death, we'll never overcome it. You have to look it straight in the eye. Then you can turn around and walk back out into the light.

If you don't remember history accurately, how can you learn?

I cannot force a design; I do not see this process as being under my conscious control.

Math, it's a puzzle to me. I love figuring out puzzles.

I had very few friends. We always ate dinner with our parents. We didn't want to go out. American adolescence was a lot wilder than I would have felt comfortable with.