Your work holds an interesting, if not turbulent relationship within the Saatchi collection, what do you remember initially about being purchased by Charles Saatchi and your works subsequent history in that collection?

JS - Yes, well first of all I had four pieces in the Saatchi collection and now I no longer have any works left. It all started with the show that Damien Hirst curated at the Serpentine 'Some Went Mad, Some Ran Away' and I had four works in that show, most of which came from my degree show at the Royal Academy. I remember when he first purchased my work it was big news and was mentioned in an article in the Evening Standard. I remember Saatchi bought Damien's sheep 'Away form the Flock' from the same show.

In terms of my work in the Saatchi collection, since he bought these works from the Serpentine show I remember he put one of my first ice pieces into an auction that he did in about 1999. The work was a brass tongue shape that came out of the wall and was covered in a thin layer of butter. The butter was simultaneously frozen and melted. The work had a light underneath that melted a pool of butter in the middle, while at the same time it was being frozen around the edges. That work was bought by a private collector and I don't know where that is now, I would love to know what happened to it, but it has gone somewhere, it's completely vanished, as works invariably sometimes do when they are sold to private collectors.

I also remember later Saatchi doing another auction that was down on Wharf Rd, I remember he put another one of my works into that auction too, which he bought in 1996. The work was a still life table piece, but the work didn't sell, which was actually fortunate for me because Damien Hirst bought it for his collection after I tipped him off. I remember he missed the deadline for the Saatchi auction but approached him after and arranged to buy it from him then.

After this happened and Damien had bought the work, the Momart fire broke out in 2004. The piece that Damien had just bought went up in the fire as did 'Sacred', a work of mine that Saatchi still owned in his collection. What I found remarkable was the difference between the two collections. After the fire I didn't hear anything from Saatchi at all and I kept writing to them asking to be told whether 'Sacred' survived the fire. At first they said they weren't aware that it had been destroyed and it took about two months before I got an email from them confirming that the work had been lost in that fire. I already knew it had been burnt and I was really gutted and upset that I had lost the work.

In terms of the piece that Damien lost, he said to me "Do you want to remake it Jane?" and gave me some insurance money and I remade it, so its now back in his collection and better than ever before. There is just a remarkable difference in people's attitudes as to what they have in their collection and the way they look after it. Damien now has seven pieces of mine in his 'murderme' collection.

In 1999 your work 'Between' was gifted by Saatchi along with a large number of other works to the Arts Council Collection, what was your initial response to hearing the news?

JS - I remember at first being a bit embarrassed actually. It was a bit like visiting something from your teen age because when you have a work that needs help, when it is that vulnerable then you can't help but feel self-conscious about it. 'Between' was my second frozen sculpture made in 1991-2, and made on a very small budget.

I think I received a letter telling me that the work was being included as part of a donation to the Arts Council. I remember at the time feeling disappointed, but now I realise that it was basically the kiss of life in terms of my work. It meant that this work would survive. I remember when the work was exchanged I had it in my studio for a while so that I could make some running repairs, although now I realise that I didn't really need to do that because the level of care provided by the Arts Council Collection is amazing. When I met with the technicians it was not just about restoration its more about understanding what your process is and realising what they can do to keep the spirit of the work intact.

What do you remember about your work being gifted from one collection to another?

JS - I remember going to the Arts Council Collection to visit 'Between' and it being a little like visiting an old friend. I said to them that having my work is more like looking after a pet than owning a sculpture. I remember when I was making that piece I was a student making it for at most a 3 week show- we didn't think that far ahead as museum shows and touring shows at the time I had literally no budget. In my opinion the only reason that the work is still alive is because it is in the Arts Council Collection and the renovation is amazing. Imagine going into a store nearly eighteen years after you have made a sculpture and seeing it again, having the opportunity to discuss its very fabric and nature, its very survival with a team of experts, as an artist its completely incredible.

I do think of my sculptures very fondly because they are very intricate machines, they are slightly Heath Robinson in the way they are put together, they are very much hand made and so for me it was an utter delight to see these pieces in such great hands. It really feels like the perishable may still live.

The nature of your work and the fact that they were produced while you were a student at the Royal Academy means the work holds an interesting and specific relation to understanding the idea of collections; to what extent is your work made to be preserved?

JS - I think we were of that generation that was not really thinking it through at the time, we were not career artists and none of the work was very highly finished. So for me its amazing now to be involved with the Arts Council Collection and getting the collection to really look at the work and think about its longevity and think about how it can be preserved. I am not interested in making works that last forever, the works are on a journey with us. I like aging, my work is about impermanence and I don't think you can make work like that and try to keep it forever, it goes against the thing that it is.

What do you think is important about the Arts Council Collection?

JS - The Arts Council Collection has a great ability to act as a mirror to reflect what is going in the art world at a particular time. The Collection is informed by people who really know what is going on, who go around the shows at that time and they look at new work, it has that ability to be a great reflector of periods in art. I think artists' choosing other artist's work is absolutely vital for the Collection because it's a way of avoiding having agendas.

In the past I have been involved with the Henry Moore Institute and talked a lot with Penelope Curtis about the idea of managing and adding to an existing collection. I concluded that it may feel a bit like inheriting someone else's wardrobe, and maybe not all of the 'pieces' are a comfortable fit.

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