Niki de St. Phalle

I resemble the father I once hated.

Painting calmed the chaos that shook my soul.

Father's ideals became part of me and still are today. His reserve, deeply rooted liberal views, his provocative humour, his passion for work and love of risk are also mine.

Since the age of 11, I have loved writing poems and fragments from my life.

It's my destiny to make a place where people can come and be happy: a garden of joy.

Most people don't see the edginess in my work. They think it's all fantasy and whimsy.

The world has been experiencing a whole pattern of auto-destruction, whether in environmental disasters like Chernobyl or health disasters like AIDS.