Cornelia Parker

I am not a propagandist; my work has often had a political dimension but, hopefully, one that is not didactic and is open to interpretation. ”

When I was a kid, my mother used to say, 'You always want to be different.' I couldn't work out what she meant. I was just trying to be myself. ”

I don't want my work to be issue-based. I want people to be able to read it in lots of different ways. ”

I want to make work that reflects different times and processes. ”

As you get older, things don't work as well. I do Pilates, and that helps. ”

If I'm not doing the work I want, I usually suffer a psychological allergic reaction and get ill. ”

To make large, site-specific work as an artist is usually quite tortuous; there are so many boxes you have to tick. ”

I don't particularly look at other artists when I'm working. But references do come into my work intuitively. ”

People often want the big dramatic works, not the smaller quieter ones, but I don't worry about how it fits together anymore; I just have to do it. I feel compelled to make a work: it's like an itch I have to scratch, and once it's been scratched, it goes away. ”

I always feel my work is a chemical reaction between me and the world, wherever I happen to be. ”