These warped, dismembered figures keep resurfacing throughout your work, carrying the same tension and bodily grammar. Do they function as a kind of self-portraiture? Are we looking at different incarnations of the same entity, or are they vessels for something more internal?

I don’t think that the figures are the same entity as such, but exist in the same emotional realm. They each occupy a space on their own canvases but the artworks as a unit act more as a continual narrative or exploration of people and paint. Each figure has an element of self-association, to paint them I need to empathise and relate to what I am painting, but I don’t see the figures as versions of myself. Some may be more heavily influenced by my own emotions of experiences than others but in general even if they have impressions of myself, they’re definitely othered.

Skin and flesh, almost raw in their tactile exposure, feel like a direct reaction against a culture obsessed with polishing and filtering reality. What does this kind of physical immediacy, mean to you?

Yeah, they are a resistance to perfection, it’s not the main reason I paint the figures but I think the idea of realness and the futility of trying to reach perfection are a strong driving point. I like the idea of failing to comply to a filtered or idealised existence. I think some of my figures are attempting and failing. Some revoke the sentiment completely. In my opinion the body with all its gore is the first act of resistance as it’s usually the first thing to be filtered and polished. I guess it’s also a resistance to internal perfection. I feel like recently there’s been a discourse that has created a high standard of how we should be, think, empathise, say, even how we ‘properly’ process our emotions, and although it most of the time it probably comes from a place of empathy the standards of how we ‘should’ exist become rigid. So, I enjoy painting figures that don’t fit or have something uncomfortable and exposing about them.

Over time, your palette seems to have shifted from more intense, saturated colours toward lighter, more muted tones. What brought about this change? Did it come from a personal place, or was it part of a broader transformation in the way you approach painting?

I don’t think I have thought about it too much, I guess my tastes have changed. I never want to limit myself so maybe it’s for this reason. I have some somewhat colourful paintings planned, it’s really dependant on what feels right at the time.

There’s something deeply visceral in your work. To what extent do organs and viscera become an emotional language for you? Is there a kind of pull or fixation there?

I’m super interested in the body and how it is essentially a shell, but also so integral and emotional. I find it interesting how the body works and how complex and interlinked everything is. I like the inside being out as its not supposed to be out. Seeing it out reminds us of our humanity and our mortality. This is generally unsettling but to me viscera is a direct link to being alive.

Was there a moment when something private became impossible to contain and had to take form in your work? A piece where that internal pressure first found a visual outlet?

I used to be much more emotional and found it hard to regulate them so I think in my earlier works most likely but I can’t name a singular one, maybe ‘A Face when loved’ 2023. Now I’m much more methodical and intentional with what I paint so not anymore.

How far do you think art can act as a space for psychological processing, for both the viewer and society more broadly? And in your view, what matters more in conveying something primal: the work itself, or the context it’s shown in?

It’s helpful for sure, there’s no dispute. I will say there’s a limit to how much you can process, after a while your works become an echo chamber of your own emotions and although they can help you understand how or why you feel something, from personal experience there is a limit to how much you can move past anything without an external catalyst. For me it’s the process and the time with yourself that is the most progressive part. The work is the more primal but context is almost as important, the wrong context can make an artwork much less effective or poignant.

Is there a work of yours that you feel has resonated more intensely or emotionally, with audiences? Why do you think that is?

‘The Glory’ 2025 was a painting that I made for my solo show ‘I Pictured Skin’ at GNYP Berlin, the subject matter is a pregnant woman naked from the waist down with an obscured body suspended in the background. This painting I noticed had an emotional reaction with a lot of people and it seemed like the subject matter was more difficult to view with the inclusion of the pregnant woman even though there was no certain narrative. I think this is probably because pregnant women are sort of othered in society not negatively per se, but I think they can be seen as fragile, ethereal, innocent or as an incubator, they sometimes lose autonomy. So, I think it’s good to represent them in an alternative more human way, even if it’s not exactly nice.

The work you made for Benjamin Abel Meirhaeghe’s production placed your figures in a live setting, bodies in front of other bodies. Did that shift how you think about what your paintings do when they’re simply hanging on a wall?

I loved the piece that was made for Benjamin. The production was amazing and it was great seeing my work in that setting. It’s not the first time I had thought of my work in a more performative way. I collaborated with Oscar Defriez to create a sound installation/score to go alongside my artwork ‘A Screaming Object’ back in late 2024. The work and installation have been shown twice, most recently in Poland in ‘Just Because’. The score is something that is really close to mine and Oscars hearts and we’re actually releasing it as a five-track album on the 22nd of May, which I’m really excited about.

What are you searching for now that you haven’t yet found? Not just in terms of projects, but as a visual or formal problem your work hasn’t resolved yet?

I think I’m always searching for how far the paint can take me and what I will be able to achieve in future.