'Almost all the characters in my pieces are made up. This one is based on one of the first pieces I ever made, called The Secrecy of Cat-Walking' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'My parents were drug addicts, so my family life was quite rough, but they had horses when I was small. Horses are my way to connect with them' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'Sometimes I name pieces after one of the book titles in the sculpture, like in this one. I loved how mysterious it sounded' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'This is a picture of Robin Williams's dog. This painting was given to him as a birthday present by his good friend. The title is the name of the dog' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'This is definitely the biggest piece. It's just under 24ft tall by 14ft wide. It's about 3,000 books. Probably 90% of these were old romance novels, so that's where that title came from' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'A lot of my work is about relationships, and how there's always an underlying story. Her tapping her heels is a hint that she's upset' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'Books don't hold the same amount of power that they used to, because of the internet and whatnot, and they throw them away at an alarming rate' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'I love the reactions that I get from people, whether they're five years old or 80. Books are so close to you from childhood' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'It's taken me years to figure out how to move them. I glue them in sections of five to 10 books, and then I put them together like a giant Lego puzzle' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'To me the titles are the most important part. I put a lot of time and effort into naming things, because I think it's such an overlooked art. To me, a good title isn't particularly obvious, or something that could have multiple meanings' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'In the small book-sculptures that I do I'm very particular about which books I use, matching the painting to the content' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'One lady told me it was a sin that I painted on books, and I told her that I'd got all the books out of the garbage – this particular batch was literally out of a dumpster' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
'I'm a vegetarian and an animal lover, and I love the fact that animals have such strong personalities. In the end we're all the same. We're all alive in this weird place' Photograph: Mike Stilkey
