Teyonah Parris Quotes

Art is that which comes to a man, and stands between himself and an implacable witness: the work.

I don't want real life necessarily to be seen only as a context to heighten the deepness my work.

The moment of creative impulse is what an artist gives you. You look at a Pollock, and it can't give you the tools to do a painting like that yourself, but in doing the work, Pollock shares with you the moment of creative impulse that drove him to do that work.

The artist's job, I think, is to be a conduit for mystery. To intuit it, and recognize that the story-germ has some inherent mystery in it, and sort of midwife that mystery into the story in such a way that it isn't damaged in the process, and may even get heightened or refined.

You don't make a movie, the movie makes you.

I think there are a lot of pictures to make. I sometimes question whether I'm even an artist or just a painter. To me, the making of the pictures is the most important thing.

As an artist, the most important thing and the most special thing is when your intention shines through on the work.

In any great art, you create a world, and you invite people into that world, and hopefully, it's fleshed out enough and you've explained it well enough.

I've always looked at filmmaking as a lifestyle. There is no decision of when you go to work. It's a way of life: you're thinking about scripts; you see things and think, 'That could be interesting'... I don't think about my work as, 'Today I'll work on this, this and that.' It just comes to me.

Sometimes, when you get into a record, it's like writing a book, and you get so far inside the story you can't tell anymore if it's gonna be good to an outside listener.

For me, it's just always about trying to tell stories that I care about.

As artists, our job is to communicate thoughts and tell stories.

No matter what I've worked on or what art practices I've delved into, they've always been an attempt to world-build.

I don't consciously sit down thinking I'm blurring genre lines, for the most part. I try to stay focused solely on serving the needs of the particular story on which I'm working.

Sometimes for a lot of new artists, they don't have a vision, really, or know what they want to say; it's kind of drawn out for them. But me, because I'm such a transcendental thinker, it's always like a journey and an adventure with each project. It's like going through a different doorway each time.

I like directing. It takes a lot out of you, but I'd like to do it again - I just have to find a story I want to tell.

I'm trying to do the kind of projects that I want to see in the theatre.

I think there's a deep impulse in most humans to do creative stuff, whether that's music or art, photography or writing. Most people at some point in their life say they want to do something creative - they want to be an actor, a director, a writer, a poet, a painter or whatever.

You become the movie you are making.

I have 30 years of experience working with Leos Carax, so all the films of Leos Carax are unusual or unique. I look at them as a journey: a journey which is very personal to Leos.

Artwork is not like a commercial business; there is no such thing as a schedule for art. You can't hurry art.

Every movie has its uniqueness. You just do your best and go with it.

I just like to choose projects that will allow me as an artist to make my art.

I'm a storyteller - that's my chamber, that's my box. I'm always tryin' to give you the best story from our side of the table that you could really relate to quick. I understand where I wanna be at, but sometimes the production takes me where I need to go.

You know creators, composers, need a palette for life, a color for life.