I wanted to make new works of very contemporary objects, which I thought was interesting because many of them are manufactured in China, but these objects are universal, they go across all languages, all cultures.

I would never put a sculpture in front of a painting, so that it is difficult to see the painting. I always place each thing so you can see it isolated. You can focus on every individual work.

The first exhibition that I used bright colours in painting the room was at a gallery in Paris, and there were seven rooms in the gallery. It was very nice gallery, not very big rooms, around the courtyard, it was a very French space. So I painted each room in different colour. When people came to the exhibition, I saw they came with a smile. Everybody smiles - this is something I never saw in my work before.

If you close the door to the things you feel comfortable with, you will never discover the truth about yourself.

I am personally happy for artists to make as much money as they can while they can to carry them through the times when they can't.

In Britain the power of authority was weakened. There was much more individual freedom and there was great academic freedom.

I thought the objects we value least because they were ubiquitous were actually the most extraordinary.