Cindy Sherman Quotes

Nowadays, with digital printing, it's so easy to make everything perfect, which is not always a good idea. Sometimes the mistakes are really what make a piece.

I’m trying to make other people recognize something of themselves rather than me.

Everyone thinks these are self-portraits but they aren't meant to be. I just use myself as a model because I know I can push myself to extremes, make each shot as ugly or goofy or silly as possible.

The still must tease with the promise of a story the viewer of it itches to be told.

I wanted to create something that people could relate to without having read a book about it beforehand.

If I knew what the picture was going to be like I wouldn’t make it. It was almost like it was made already – the challenge is more about trying to make what you can’t think of.

I feel I'm anonymous in my work. When I look at the pictures, I never see myself; they aren't self-portraits. Sometimes I disappear.

The way I see it, as soon as I make a piece I’ve lost control of it.

The work is what it is and hopefully it's seen as feminist work, or feminist-advised work, but I'm not going to go around espousing theoretical bullshit about feminist stuff.

[My work is] maybe about me maybe not wanting to be me and wanting to be all these other characters. Or at least try them on.

I’m really just using the mirror to summon something I don’t even know until I see it.

Inconsiderate, rude behavior drives me nuts. And I guess the inconsiderate rudeness of social ineptitude definitely fuels my work.

My ideas are not developed before I actually do the pieces.

I didn't think of what I was doing as political. To me it was a way to make the best out of what I liked to do privately, which was to dress up.

One reason I was interested in photography was to get away from the preciousness of the art object.

Being able to make a living doing something one truly loves to do - is my definition of success.

Dreamers are those who have achieved in love and life, because it is a dream that got them there.

Believing in one’s own art becomes harder and harder when the public response grows fonder.

The models have always been the least interesting thing about fashion.

I can't work without it [music]. And it has to be the right kind, because if it's not then I get into a bad mood. I work with a remote so that I can change CDs instantly if I need to.

I was meticulously copying other art and then I realized I could just use a camera and put my time into an idea instead.

My message for people to not take anything for granted, to respect what they might not understand.

I am fine, though it is hard to think of what kind of work to make at this point, other than decorative, escapist or abstract. I suppose I'll explore one or all of these things.

Every time you have to come up with a new body of work for a new show, you're aware that people are just ready to rip you apart, they're just waiting for you to fall or make the slightest trip up.

I wonder how it is that I’m fooling so many people, I’m doing one of the most stupid things in the world…and people seem to be falling for it.

Some people have told me they remember the film that one of my images is derived from, but in fact I had no film in mind at all.

I didn't have any interest in traditional art.

My dad was such a bigot. He was a horrible, self-centred person. He was really racist and he'd talk about the Jews and blacks and Catholics even.

When I do work, I get so much done in such a concentrated time that once I’m through a series, I’m so drained I don’t want to get near the camera.

I was feeling guilty in the beginning; it was frustrating to be successful when a lot of my friends weren't. Also, I was constantly being reminded of that by people in my family making jokes.

I'd never even thought about compromise when I worked in my studio. The major distinction is in the priority of who I ultimately wanted to please: myself or the audience.

I can be fearlessly strong at times to protect an inner frailty.