One of the reasons that I went to Mexico aside from the Maya and the pre-Columbian aspect of it was that I wanted to work with [Diego] Rivera, which I did, on a mural that he was painting at the time. But at some point I realized that I wasn't going to be a political artist, it just wasn't in my repertoire.

I did live in Paris for three years and I prefer New York.

Mexico doesn't seem alien to Californians.

In fact, in the history of a lot of cultures there is a theater. For example, there are the theaters in Java, [Indonesia] and of that area where they use puppets and they have backgrounds and shadows.

In order to execute the idea, you need a certain material that is going to allow you to do what you're challenged to do in your imagination. You should use whatever you can and it's amazing how even if you change the medium, your work is still yours.

I have lots of objects. Every object has a story, which makes me think I should write a story about every object.

I veer more toward the philosophical and the poetic than I do toward the alert and angry.