I don’t think you ever let go as an artist. I might have a painting that looks pretty simple, but its going to mean something o me. It’s not just an aesthetic judgement, it’s an emotional judgment and positioniong in my mind. I think Munch was very much like that as well. That said, some of his paintings were just pictures, like his portraits of industrialists. It’s exactly the same as Andy Warhol’s society portraits. They’re about the same thing: they both needed money.
Tracey Emin 2020