Even in making objects, as soon as you start to get the feeling that some form of craft is coming into place, you realize that everything is wrong. Because craft is really just a fetish. It is wasted energy. It's about the object, some space which has nothing to do with the human.

Art has this ability to allow you to connect back through history in the same way that biology does. I'm always looking for source material.

I think you always, as an artist, feel like you would like to be more and more specific about your intent and your interests.

I like to look at everything and appreciate seeing the different things that have meaning to people.

With my friends in Brooklyn, many of them started out as artists. I saw many of these friends move into late middle age, still struggling without health insurance or a cushion. I saw people who had given up being artists. Being an artist necessitates a compromise or living on the edge.

Rock formations and their layers of texture and color have been a strong inspiration, as well as the landscapes of Valley of Fire State Park in Nevada and the Rainbow Mountains in China.

I believe that it is higher education's purpose and calling to keep open the door to the American dream.

Americans are free to choose everything from what they eat, drive and watch on TV to the President of the United States. Yet, when it comes to allowing Americans to choose the health insurance that works best for them and their family, the freedom to choose suddenly becomes un-American.