Interview by Eva Coutts

What is your graduation project about?

I handed in a variety of projects for my final submission. They included a series of illustrations for a collaborative article between Spotify and Refinery29, a collection of painterly explorations of Queerness, Identity and Feminism, and a range of cards celebrating the LGBTQIA+ community for Hallmark.

How do you best like to work?

I primarily work digitally due to the range of effects and portability, as it allows me to be creative even when I am unable to access physical resources such as a studio - it has been a lifeline during the pandemic, a time where our access to facilities has been limited! I tend to create my pieces fairly intuitively, about issues or subjects I feel I need to express myself on, and the structure and planning falls into place around the ideas or themes I am exploring within that piece of work.

Can you tell us about some of the things which inspire you and your work? 

This year has been transformative for me in so many ways. As a queer person, my identity is a central theme to so much of my work, and I strive for my creative practice to be a space where myself and others can feel seen, included, represented and celebrated for who they are. The main goal of my artistic practice is to create pieces that educate, empower and inform, and I am primarily inspired by Queerness, Feminism, Politics and Social Movements.

What have been the highlights of your time at ECA and in Edinburgh? 

Some highlights from my time at ECA include taking part in makers markets throughout the city and selling my work for the first time, being nominated for awards for my activism which I do in my own time, setting up my business and capturing the attention of clients such as Spotify, Refinery29, Shania Twain, Vans, Superdrug, STAEDTLER and many more. I am proud of the way I managed my time to allow myself to take on client work externally to my studies at university, meaning I am able to hit the ground running when I graduate.

How have the events over the past year affected your work?

After a year of uncertainty, projects being postponed or cancelled, and at some points total panic, I have just had to take each day as it comes, and try and loosen up a bit! Unlearning the need to be perpetually productive, and trying not to put so much pressure on myself, has been so important for me and my mental health, and I’ve spent more time experimenting and playing - being creative just for fun rather than purely to meet deadlines and satisfy marking criteria!

Have you got plans for after graduating?

I have BIG post-graduation plans. Less than a week after handing in my final submissions, I am travelling to London to work on a large-scale installation celebrating Pride for the window display Vans store on Carnaby Street. Then I have several really exciting projects that I have been working on launching over the summer, and I have recently signed with an agency, so plan to take on more client work through them as soon as possible!