Grayson Perry

I think that democracy has a lowest common denominator thing going on, so it might be the best of a bad bunch of political systems; but as a way of making art, actually, its not always that great, because it boils everything down.

I operate on anger quite a lot. Its what gets me up in the morning to make art quite often. Well, irritation at least.

Maybe if they didnt tense up, always need to be competitive, always need to be in charge, always need to be the one at the top, men might find that there are benefits from releasing the grip of power.

Im as masculine as the next man - get me on the mountain bike and Im vicious.

I think I grew up in an 'acultural' household - no books, no paintings, never went to an art gallery. I say that, but of course we had the TV.

Artists have their very distinctive voices that theyve developed over a long period. It takes time to find your voice, your vocabulary of images, or whatever it is.

Im a maximalist, so Im probably not very elegant. My art is not a coup de grce. Its a war of attrition.

I hate it when people say that art shouldnt be a commodity. A lot of the rooms in museums, and all the Frieze week events, are there because of high-end art collectors.

I'm suspicious when I go to someone's house and everything is beautiful and perfect. Authenticity often means mistakes.

I like skateboarding because it's backyard danger. You don't need to go on an alpine holiday to get thrills.

Im interested in those things that hover in our unconsciousnesses - class, gender, identity - until we have to think about them for whatever reason. So normal is whatevers normal for you, until its not.

There are some very unsavoury aspects of art dealing that go with the unregulated nature of the market but its all part of the glamour. Glamour always has an unsavoury edge. I dont want to come across as preachy.

I enjoyed the thought that hovering behind my work is a unifying belief system, just as there is behind Egyptian or Ancient Greek art. It just happens that the person who thought up the belief system behind my work is still around - ie, me.

How art works is really interesting. It comes from our unconscious, a lot of it. And were communicating in ways were not completely aware of when were making it.

Gender is great, and Im happy for anybody to celebrate wherever they are on the gender spectrum. Its got amazingly much easier in my lifetime.

The male role is heavily policed from birth, by parents, peers and bosses. Politicians in particular are harshly kept in line by a media that seems to uphold more bizarrely rigid standards of conformity than those held by any citizen.

Well, intellectual importance is directly linked to financial value in the art world. I mean, thats the thing you really want - museum quality. You want to go down in the annals of art history.

Pottery was what sandal-wearing, windchime-lovers did. Art is sensitive to areas of visual culture that havent yet been colonised by the art world, and perhaps what they sensed back then was, here was an area that hadnt been fully explored.

I always think that painters are fighting over the last original brushstroke. To find your own voice is incredibly hard.

Success in the art world means getting invitations to exhibit in some great places. I had shown in contemporary art museums in Europe, America, New Zealand and Japan. I'd also been asked to curate shows, and had made work to go with my selections from historical collections.