It was a while ago when I graduated from my Fine Art Degree, 2001 to be exact. Times were different then. The millennium had been and gone and we all survived, although there had been talk of Armageddon and people were definitely storing tins of food and thinking about digging panic rooms. This was a time before social media, to be fair the best thing about the internet then was the search engine, Ask Jeeves. We had no idea about digital magazine, AltBlackpool was just a glint in our editors eye.
Tell me a little about you?
I’m 28 and I live in Blackpool, I have lived around the area for most of my life. I have been drawing and creating all my life, it’s really been the one constant for me. It is very important to me to be able to be creative, whether through audio, sound, video or more traditional mediums such as sculpture and paint. My hobbies include collecting vinyl, predominately House and UK Garage. I have also always had an interest in the modified car scene because I used to spray paint cars.
What influences your artistic practice?
Life and music. Music because sound is the most direct way to get a reaction from someone and evoke an emotion it is very powerful. Sociology such as Baudrillard and Karl Marx. “Baller Culture” and consumer culture, brands such as Versace, Moschino and Nike. Social mobility and inclusive tribal groups including the UK Grime scene, a type of music originating from London based on dance-hall sound-systems including pirate radio stations. Aesthetics born from a modern incarnation of the casual scene where working class aspirations of a glamorous lifestyle are portrayed in music videos depicting inner city everyday life, similar to US rap.
What did it feel like studying art in Blackpool?
Good, I am able to find whatever I need and make relevant work to the town I live in. Because of Blackpool’s mixed up identity of strip clubs and arcades with family attractions and pubs all next to each other I have a wide scope of things to think about and different points of view.
What are your plans after graduation?
Carry on what I was already doing, which is doing tech work for the Grundy art gallery and continue my own practice and plan shows and help others to be successful because I know how hard it can be to get where you want to be.
See the Class of 2016 exhibition from 10am-5pm (Mon-Fri) Thursday 15-Thursday 29 September 2016 at Hanover Project, UCLan, Preston — FREE Closing Party 29 September 2016, 5-7pm.
