I grew up in north London. My family came over from Ireland and we were put into social housing. I was kicked out of school when I was 13 years-old and I never went back into education. My mother put me forward for drama classes because I was quite shy and she wanted me to grow in confidence. So being an artist all happened by accident. I had no qualifications, no training, I didn’t go to art school. The work that I make is often from that perspective of what happened to me as a 13 year-old. It’s very political, community based, engaged with non-artists.
I was aware growing up that I was different and I was aware that this difference was something not to be spoken about. I remember vividly the girls saying I couldn’t play with them because I was a boy and the boys saying I couldn’t play with them because I sounded like a girl. So that was when alienation and the start of queer trauma happened.