Bianca Kajlich

It's easy when you've had difficulty or strife in your life to look at other people who seem like they've had it easier. But the thing we forget is that it is all relative, and each person's experience is uniquely their own, so that the worst thing they may be going through is truly the worst thing for them... it's just about having compassion.

In 2003, he was hit by a subway in Prague and lost both of his legs. It made me realize that we take for granted every step we take, and my brother now has to physically challenge himself to take each step in his prosthetic.

The thrill of a photo-realist painter is if you get really close to the painting, it looks just like a photograph. Whereas in my case, if you get close to my paintings, they totally fall apart - so I'm about as far from a photo-realist as it gets.

I think that there's something extremely beautiful about the Olympic ideal and its motto - 'Swifter, higher, stronger' - it's such a beautiful motto, and it celebrates everything which is the antithesis of death and dissolution and entropy.