Hello, that's me up there! I approach my work
with dynamism but where did that all begin? Well I was born in
1997 to a very political family.
My mother is in the cohort of
women who had their state pension age raised from 60 to 65 and is
against this increase, and my dad was a police officer from when I
was quite young.
There's no escaping politics! I'm the only one doing satire
though. I've studied in two art schools and both have been amazing
places to learn and hone my craft.
The first was at Kingston
School of Art where I did an art and design foundation and a fine
art degree there!
I then went on to Newcastle for an MFA (Master of Fine Arts) where
I worked in the King Edward VII building, an incredible Edwardian
building with arches and columns. Every day it felt as if I was
walking into Hogwarts.
See! I have been described as a prolific maker by former tutors
and whether working with my laptop and wacom tablet or with good
old fashioned pen and paper, my desktop is always cluttered with
pens and pencils or psds and pngs.
Most artists have that chaotic tendency, right?!
I have down
days when I don't do much but I'll always be thinking.
Thinking
about how to cover the latest calamity from the politicians be
they Conservative or Labour and thinking what the result of the
mess they've created will eventually be.
Another thing I consider in my artwork is impact on the most
vulnerable from politicians. I'm autistic and so consider people
with other disabilities in my artwork and think about the impact
of government policy on them. If things don't work for the most
vulnerable, they don't work for anyone.
I also think about attracting those who aren't interested in
politics, because no matter what, they will be affected by it.
The people I really love are cartoonists. It's an old craft
starting in the 1750s with George Townshend (a politician by
trade), then popularised by Gillray and Hannah Humphrey. Nowadays,
the tradition of political cartooning, rinsing and taking the piss
out of politicians is continued by cartoonists like Martin Rowson,
Ben Jennings, and Ella Baron. There's always interest everyday.
This is why I love the artform as well as making my own cartoons.