I know from an early age that I'm very comfortable in front of people. When I was a young girl, I'd love giving book reports.

I love my little overgrown yard. And my house is wonderful. It's everything that I need.

When we got to the part where we had to improvise an argument in a poetic language, I got cold feet. "I can't do this," I said. "I don't know what to say." "Say anything," he said. "You can't make a mistake when you improvise." "What if I mess it up? What if I screw up the rhythm?" "You can't," he said. "It's like drumming. If you miss a beat, you create another." In this simple exchange, Sam taught me the secret of improvisation, one that I have accessed my whole life.

I like energy. I like to feel it cracklin', I like sexual energy in a room, and I like tension.

The new artists coming through were very materialistic and Hollywood, not so engaged in communication.

It got to the point where I started hiding because I didn't want to be photographed. (On living with Robert Mapplethorpe)

Light inspires me. I'm drawn to architecture, often graves, statues, trees - things usually that are quite still. I've been taking pictures continuously since 1995 until the end of Polaroid film. I'm taking very few pictures nowadays because I have very little film left, most of it expired.