Coven Magazine - Issue 7 - Spring 2014

Is ‘paper engineer’ a niche or label you are happy with?

I am, yes. Every job I get is different as paper applies to so many different things. I could be doing fashion or set design or editorial or…anything really! It’s fun because I will show my portfolio to people and they will always be able to think of a way to apply it to them. Every job I get is different so it’s always a challenge - I have to use my brain differently.

Do you feel that the material itself makes your artwork feel accessible?

I think if something is made out of paper you can relate to it a lot more as it’s something you see every day. You know what it feels like and how big it would be. You can relate to it more than a big marble carving. Although I would like to work with more expensive materials eventually!

What was the first big job you worked on?

There have been a couple of projects that haven’t come through. I did some work for Lush, ideas for window designs last Christmas with full size mock-ups so I had to get interns in. I guess that was my biggest job. It was the most work I had to do, in the shortest time. They didn't go for it in the end, but that’s fine!

Still a good experience?

I learnt a lot. Its weird having people work for you. Being the boss!

Was it helpful as an exercise in getting your ideas across?

It made me become a lot more organized with my ideas. The way I work is that I’ll come up with a vague plan and work quite intuitively. So I will come up with an idea and then it will be trial and error to come together, there will never be a proper plan or a proper net to begin with. But obviously when I was telling people what to do, I had to come up with really detailed plans and think everything through from the beginning to the end. So it was twice as much work as I would have been doing on my own.

Do you prefer to work on your own now then?

If I had another big job I would need help, as a lot of it is quite repetitive. It be nice to have someone there to just cut out a triangle 100 times, stuff like that! Normally I work on my own, as they are small projects. I did an editorial for Red mag and they wanted lots of foliage to display some Joe Malone candles and scented things and that was a nice job. Just a two-day thing.