Why do people want to know exactly who I am? Am I a poet? Am I this or that? I've always made people wary. First they called me a rock poet. Then I was a poet that dabbled in rock. Then I was a rock person who dabbled in art.
Patti SmithWhat a model of an artist was for me was an artist who worked. Picasso was the ultimate model, because the work ethic he had.
Patti SmithI never felt oppressed because of my gender. When I'm writing a poem or drawing, I'm not a female; I'm an artist.
Patti SmithThe artist seeks contact with his intuitive sense of the gods, but in order to create his work, he cannot stay in this seductive and incorporeal realm. He must return to the material world in order to do his work. It's the artist's responsibility to balance mystical communication and the labor of creation.
Patti Smith