The Character Of The Artist Doesn't Enter

I Remember Francis Bacon Would Say That He Felt He Was Giving Art What He Thought It Previously Lacked. With Me, It's What Yeats Called The Fascination With What's Difficult. I'm Only Trying To Do What I Can't Do.

I Always Felt That My Work Hadn't Much To Do With Art; My Admirations For Other Art Had Very Little Room To Show Themselves In My Work Because I Hoped That If I Concentrated Enough The Intensity Of Scrutiny Alone Would Force Life Into The Pictures. I Ignored The Fact That Art, After All, Derives From Art. Now I Realize That This Is The Case.

When I Look At A Body It Gives Me Choice Of What To Put In A Painting, What Will Suit Me And What Won't. There Is A Distinction Between Fact And Truth. Truth Has An Element Of Revelation About It. If Something Is True, It Does More Than Strike One As Merely Being So.

My Work Is Purely Autobiographical... It Is About Myself And My Surroundings.

I Use The Gallery As If It Were A Doctor. I Come For Ideas And Help - To Look At Situations Within Painting, Rather Than Paintings.