I've always loved those portraits that Alfred Stieglitz did of Georgia O'Keeffe over several years, which really convey the idea that there's not one image that can capture a woman, because we're changing all the time.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The best portraits are those in which there is a slight mixture of caricature.
I was going to have cosmetic surgery until I noticed that the doctor's office was full of portraits by Picasso.
I have done only two portraits: one of the artist Francesco Clemente and another of Andy Warhol.
I first thought about doing a project about Anna Wintour and 'Vogue' when I read an article in 'New York Magazine' about the Metropolitan Museum Costume Institute Ball, the annual fundraising gala that Anna oversees. It created such a fascinating portrait that I couldn't help but be compelled.
I'm very envious of the few artists who are any good and still do portraits.
Marilyn Monroe and Vivienne Leigh are real icons of mine. In terms of visual culture, they are both so iconic. There weren't any paparazzi shots of them falling out of taxis, so they will always look so incredible.
If I had been around when Rubens was painting, I would have been revered as a fabulous model. Kate Moss? Well, she would have been the paintbrush.
I was really inspired by these larger-than-life female artists like Lee Bontecou and Eva Hesse and Yvonne Rainier and the incredible Lynda Benglis. There were many women who were really driven and became successful, who were part of essential paradigm shifts, despite the fact that the art world was still dominated by men.
I would wish my portraits to be of the people, not like them. Not having a look of the sitter, being them.
I'm very particular who I work with. I'm not interested in portraying women with a cliched, generic look. I'm interested in a model who I can take a portrait of.