The viewer brings all additional information to the image.

Today, in British education, we don't have that kind of freedom. Now there are many regulations, many rules, and bureaucracies in the education system. So, it doesn't have the flexibility that it had in the '60s, '70s, '80s.

In the studio, it took me a long time to work out how to make paintings that had the intensity that I was able to create by painting whole rooms. There is a very limited number of colours but there are many variations. I decided to use the purest palette that I could.

The person you admire was true to himself. You can only truly honour him by being true to yourself.

Art is more to do with observation than invention.

For many years I hoped to have an exhibition in China, because of my family connection.

In my early work I didn't use much colour. I had no confidence about how I could do this.