We sat down with Mr. Controversial to find out what inspired his artistic journey. Here’s what he had to say about his path to becoming an artist and the motivations behind his creative process.

Can you tell us about your journey as an artist and what inspired you to start creating art?

I’ve always been creative and entrepreneurial, a combination that led me to a career in advertising and marketing agencies. For years, I was the one selling big brand concepts and campaigns to C-suite executives, getting them excited about campaigns worth hundreds of thousands of pounds. Yet, despite my enthusiasm and hard work, I was never trusted to deliver these projects. I’d hand them over to someone else which was soul-destroying.

After a few jobs and a growing sense of discontent, I reached a breaking point. Feeling fed up and disheartened, I decided to take control of my life. I wanted to create something tangible, something that combined my skills in visual communication, my passion for human behaviour and psychology, and my advertising experience. With no more than a month of rent in the bank and having just been made redundant, I took the plunge.

I started painting a few things, testing the waters, and even sold a couple of pieces through Instagram. It seemed like a fun side hustle, but I wondered if it could ever become something more. The day I got made redundant, with almost no money or resources, I had a firm conversation with myself; This had to be a turning point! I decided to take my destiny into my own hands and to live a more creative life, making things with my hands that evoke real emotions in people with my art.

In a moment of desperation and inspiration, I googled local galleries and the first one I walked into immediately inspired me, as I realised that I could see my work on those walls. It was just about fine-tuning my creative process, closing the skills gap, connecting with the right people and building a solid collector base who’d love my work and shout about it. I began to understand the processes needed for my growth and began to reverse engineer the successes of Artists I admired. However, I’d have to do it with no money, no resources, no connections and without a fancy art degree. I resolved to leverage all my skills and experience from my advertising background to build an exciting and disruptive brand so I could carve out a career in the art world.

Slowly, I started gaining a following, targeting and attracting the right collectors. Word spread, and galleries and publishers began reaching out. Today, I’ve worked with about 15 independent fine art galleries, three publishers, and a few art advisors. I’ve put on multiple exhibitions and buzzing shows and have sold nearly everything I have ever produced. I run everything from my West London studio with a small production team, keeping operations tight. The journey from painting in a spare room (which doubled as an office and wardrobe) to running a successful creative studio has been incredible. It’s no longer just me dicking about with a paint brush, I have in effect become my own publisher, creative studio and fine art production house.

I like to keep it real, that’s why relatability is the foundation of any creation I produce. My work is a satirical commentary on the way we live our lives, each piece is riddled with truisms. It’s  Inspired by human behaviour and psychology all packaged up in witty captions (and sometimes characters) and produced in rich, textured oil paints and intricate multi-layered silkscreens. I take inspiration from my own rollercoaster life experience, the conversations I overhear, the behaviour I see and also my entrepreneurial journey in a way viewers can relate to and identify with. 

I aim to explore and unearth our inner subconscious thoughts which we are often too afraid to voice out of a fear of being judged or expelled from the group. In a world where toxic hustle culture prevails and Entrepreneurship is as easy as turning on your laptop and making £1,000 per day, one of my XXL canvases says; “Entrepreneur: powered by caffeine, stress, and a crippling fear of failure.” It’s relatable to every small business owner or aspirational person trying to step out of their comfort zone but also quite cathartic for me.

I love what I do but this isn’t just a fun job; it’s a daily battle; wrestling with concepts, business deals and sometimes destroying work I’ve spent hours on. From dealing with cash flow issues, meeting tight deadlines, and keeping the business afloat whilst growing at a rapid rate and maintaining everything that makes the brand exciting and disruptive. I take this very seriously and I put everything I have into this to make it a success… it seems to be working thank God. This theme of entrepreneurialism, ambition, and dream chasing is evident throughout my work and those who are chasing their own dreams find that it resonates with them and they buy it – figuratively and literally.