It's a funny semantic turn - when someone paints a landscape, no one says they "borrowed" it, only that they painted it.

A good painting has to do about 12 things at once.

I can only think of a handful of artists that can make a funny painting or a funny sculpture without it feeling coined in someway.

I think that painting relates very neatly to inner travel and the exploration of inner worlds. With painting, I always get the impression that you're sort of entering into a shared space.

You have the 20th century wrapping up and everything is moving at this breakneck speed? And then, painting is still walking. It's just a very human activity that takes time.

I think you do kind of slip into a trance when you look at a painting. At least I do.

There are different kinds of concentration required to make a painting, different kinds of being present.

I think, with abstraction, it's easy to fall into a sort of pastiche.

I think painting has that unique potential to project opposing viewpoints.

Technology's always changing. There was a time where oil painting was a new technology. That changed painting.

Paintings exist in the present tense, yet somehow, because of how it's structured, it can move backwards through time as well.

I'm not sure if there's truly a name for this kind of place aside from it being anything but remarkable.

If you want to be educated and wise, you must open your heart, expand your mind, be accepting and ready to change.

There are no excuses. There are no good reasons.

The rabbis paled. I’d managed to terrify holy men. Maybe I could beat up a nun for an encore.

I'd rather die enormous than live dormant.

Comedy distances pain, but leaves signs of it everywhere.

We're afraid that this anger or sorrow or loneliness is going to last forever... Instead, acting it out is what makes it last.

SakeThe jewel which brightly shines at nightIs precious, but cannot measure up To the delights of drinking sake,Drowning one's troubles in the cup. Otomo no Tabito

Naturally, everyone loves his freedom, but we must beware of this as of a broad road that leads to perdition.

... the intellect, everywhere invasive, shows everywhere its shallowing effect.