When did you decide that painting/art was something that you really wanted to do with your life? I’ve always been interested in art from a young age. I met Kris Roberts at Art college & we both went on to cofound Funeral For A Friend. After leaving the band I toured with and performed with From This Moment On & Dignity Dies First. I then returned to my first love of painting.
What artists have influenced you since you first started out, and why? The three main artsits that have influenced me are 'Picasso', 'Basquiat' & 'Jesse Reno' for many reasonscolour, composition, ethics etc. Basquiat would take an inanimate object such as a chair or a door and breathe life into it with colour & poetry which are two things that are very important in my work. Both Picasso & Basquiat are now dead so i now get my progressive inspiration from Jesse Reno.
How did you get to the title SnowSkull for your work, and what does it mean to you? I chose the name 'SnowSkull' from a Gregory Corso poem. I feel the contrast between the purity of the snow and the morbidness of the skull combined shows the light and the darkness of my work. It’s interesting that peoples aspects of the skull are usually negative and related to death. I feel that we carry our skulls in a more positive light in everyday life as protection for our brains- where our imagination and creativity comes from.