Dan Colen Quotes & Sayings

“It's such a weird self-confidence that an artist has - to conceive of this thing that serves no function and say, 'I'm going to really work hard for it and give it and it's just going to matter to people.' You really have to believe it all on your own.”

“All of these mechanisms we have for celebrating are so double-edged. So much sorrow comes out of joy.”

“Art is kind of the lens through which I think about God.”

“At the end of the day, you can't have a vision; you have to have a hope. This is where the miracle comes in.”

“It's such a paradox. You come from this place where you want fame; you don't want to be bourgeois, but you want to be successful. You want to be accepted, but you also want to be going against the grain. You want to be on the outside, but you want to be on the inside.”

“For all the drama we all have with our families and all the tension and hostility, I couldn't have done this without my family. Being the people that they are - they're crazy - made it possible for me to be crazy and to live a lifestyle of my own design.”

“A lot of my work involves instilling objects with the power of touch - a transference of soul, spirit, energy through actions.”

“I try very hard to handle things equally: ideas, materials, and images.”

“I've always been interested in moments of disbelief... I don't know if they possess any magic, but they do have something.”

“Art class was my thing, but not any other class.”