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

Usually people start with painting and then go on to make installations; my painting came from installation.

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.

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.

I look at the character of the exhibition and I treat it as I would a painting or an installation. When I did the Summer Exhibition at Royal Academy, I did it exactly as I would when making a new work.

When I was teaching I often said to students that you are trying to be too creative, don't be too creative, because there is so much already in what you are making, you don't need to do very much. You just need to do a little bit, and that is a lot.