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In my 20s, when I was a photojournalist in Beijing. I joined an underground art group and put on clandestine exhibitions of my paintings.

My parents were journalists and friends with writers, artists, and just a really interesting assortment of people, so I was exposed to all lifestyles from a young age.

I'm 19, and, being a public figure, I'm supposed to present myself in a certain way, but it's hard and you're never going to be able to tell people who you are through the media.

Before I was through my teens, I had been introduced and exposed to artists who would, in later years, become legendary.

I became an adult in an extreme way. I was recently sorting some old photographs and I found another.

Earlier on in my career I felt that I had to hide behind a lot of different masks, and showboat ways of performing. Now, that's a lie. The less I have to hide, the less I have to act.

When I was 17, I met many artists, and it started to become this conversation with artists out of which all of my exhibitions grew.

I've always been really involved in figuring out who my audience is and how to reach them.

I've got a very behind-the-scenes personality. I don't know how I became a performer. I like to stay discreet, out of the public eye, very low-key.

I have been writing since I was about 20, and at first I wrote in secret and never showed anybody. I was very concerned about making a living, so I conducted.