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All art began as sacred art, you know? I mean, all painting began as religious painting. All writing began as religious writing.

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant and the cat. He has no real style, He just goes on trying other things.

The artist himself may not think he is religious, but if he is sincere his sincerity in itself is religion.

I'm not a religious person. The language of photography is symbolic.

If you have a film that's talking about God, you would think that it would appeal to people that consider themselves religious, whatever denomination they're attached to.

I think art is the only thing that's spiritual in the world. And I refuse to forced to believe in other people's interpretations of God. I don't think anybody should be. No one person can own the copyright to what God means.

The artist is chosen by God to fulfill his commands and must never be overwhelmed by public opinion.

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

The modern artist must live by craft and violence. His gods are violent gods. Those artists, so called, whose work does not show this strife, are uninteresting.

Contrary to what many Westerners believe, Islam has a rich tradition of secular painting in spite of its ban on images. It is only in religious rituals that the use of pictorial representation is totally prohibited.