What’s your background?
I’m a working-class queer artist born in Manchester. I have a background in performing, theatre, music & film, all aspects I bring into my work with young people to explore how they see the world. I love using the arts in a way to allow young people to express themselves in ways they otherwise wouldn’t.
Who are your biggest influences? Artistically? Who inspired you to become an artist?
I’m inspired by artists who tell new stories that create that magic moment in art where someone feels like they are seen, they are represented in part of the world, and they should be celebrated. And that’s what I try to do in all of my work.
How have you developed your career? (From student to artist)
I studied TV & Radio production at the University of Salford, and then after I graduated spent a large portion of my time working as an actor, so I later went on to do an MA in Professional Acting at drama school. The pandemic was actually a huge shift in how I saw myself and my work. From experience, and having such time, I gained more confident in creating my own work and shaping the voice I wanted to be.
What does your work as an artist aim to say?
With everything I do I always want to explore untold stories. What haven’t we said? What do we not see represented in society? Working with young people I love to explore what they see in a challenging world, and explore where their ideas and concepts come from.
How do you seek out opportunities for work and practice?
I pride myself on being incredibly proactive in my practice, but I’m very mindful that I can’t apply for everything, there isn’t enough hours in the day. There’s many different newsletters I follow with regular artist opportunities within theatre, music, film, digital, art, so I try to keep up with as many of those as I can so I don’t miss any opportunities. I keep a spreadsheet of when funding options open and close throughout the year, just so I’m not rushing. A lot of work does come through work of mouth, and collaborating with fellow makers, performers, to continue that relationship.
What role does arts funding have to your practice? Could you and would you still be an artist if you weren’t paid to explore your art?
Funding is such an important topic at the moment with artistic development, because so much work within the arts is unpaid. And if you are from a background where you can’t book off time without an income for either a lengthy application or endless unpaid admin, then your development is naturally going to be slower in reaching it’s full potential. It’s great to see that there is so many pots emerging for artists, specifically of working-class background, but I’d love to see steps to remove the gate keeping and easier access to funds to fill out
applications etc.
Then answer these Quick Fire questions…
| Collaborate or work alone? | I like to bounce ideas off in a team and then finesse my work solitary |
| Plan ahead or improvise? | Plan ahead (huge planner!) |
| Inside or Outside? | Outside |
| Laugh or Cry? | A crying laugh |
| Morning or Evening? | Morning |
| Football or Rugby or Cricket? | None (sorry!!!) |
| Ed Sheeran or Liam Gallagher? | Possibly Ed? |
