Quotes from Charles Ray

Many of my sculptures take a long time to make.

I've had fantasies in the past of walking across America or some great distance, but it's such a commitment of time that it's stopped me.

'The Pink Lady' rides the Freudian wave. You know, the big lady, the relationship to mom - those things are obviously part of that piece.

I love art, but I've never bought an artwork or even considered it.

I think walking is a little more primal than art-making.

My dad bought us boats. I think he thought sailing was a wholesome way to spend time.

I've always been concerned with my sculpture. The drawings I do at night at home to relax. And for a long time, I just gave them to friends or my wife and didn't really show them.

I wasn't the class nerd, but I was weird. I could tell long stories and be funny, but I couldn't do sports. And I was always terrified of being held back.

As soon as you step into the water, you are part of the food chain; you're part of the wilderness. That's why I like solo sailing. You can be macho, but at least you can be macho on your own.

Work is rich. It can be looked at psychologically or philosophically or personally. The interpretive nature of work is different than the work itself. The interpretation of work isn't the key to understanding it. I'm worried about making a good sculpture. I'm not so worried about the interpretation of it.

The homeless person or the schizophrenic person talking to themselves are disassociated from their immediate environment. They're off in a fantasy, and it's very similar to what happens on a cell phone.

There's something about a toy to a child where the relationship is real, where the kid is playing, and it's just really amazing.

Boat building is intellectual - everything has a reason. In sculpture, it has a direction.

I've made a lifelong attempt to involve myself deeper and deeper in my medium.

I work very slowly.

I do a lot of thinking about my work while I'm walking. More in the early morning when I'm trekking in the mountains. When I'm walking in the city, I think more about people around me - my brothers, my wife, some business situation, commitments.

The social aspect of being an artist has always made me uncomfortable.

Art is the bridge across the gap between peoples and cultures. Writing is one of the arts that can help link people.

thing. I had the greatest respect for

Wolf: Bounty Hunter

Wealth that is not shared is not truly wealth,

guarding the camp site during the hunt, even Caleb. In fact, had he not pushed Lame Deer so

Being in a room full of my art makes me incredibly nervous because the work always gets damaged when it's shown, and I hate my openings.

Sometimes in a sculpture, it's interesting to me what's stylized and what's natural and how those forms interrelate, as they interrelate in ourselves.