""What I dream of is an art of balance, of purity and serenity devoid of troubling or disturbing subject matter... like a comforting influence, a mental balm - something like a good armchair."

"Suppose I have to paint a woman's body: first I give it grace, charm, then it is necessary to give it something more. I am going to condense the meaning of this body by seeking its essential lines. The charm will be less apparent at first, but it will emerge in the end from the new image that I will have obtained and will have a wider meaning, a more fully human one."

"The artist has but one idea. He is born with it and spends a lifetime developing it and making it breathe. I basically work without theory. I am aware only of the forces I use, and I move along the course of the picture's creation, pushed by an idea that I come to know only gradually as it develops."

"Instinct must be thwarted just as one prunes the branches of a tree so that it will grow better."

"We must see all life as if we were children."

"As I create these colored cutouts, it seems to me that I advance joyfully to meet whatever awaits. I do not believe I have ever experienced such peace and harmony as in making these cutout papers.""