I’m a young mixed media artist from the Midlands, England.

I can’t really remember when I first got into art, its just always been around me, my grandad is an artist so I used to visit his gallery as a kid and see his work, which in fact is very different to mine now.

I create art as a way of getting things off my chest and its a way of expressing things that would otherwise be hard to express in any other form. I believe as young artists we have a good opportunity to turn heavy subjects into a more pleasant form and still get a powerful message across. We also have a responsibility to create art that which other people can find comfort in or can relate to in some way. But saying that, just making art isn’t enough for me so I make music and write lyrics which is another outlet, and is another way of expressing feelings in a much easier way.

I get inspiration from everywhere, whether it be my surroundings or a person I see walking down the street, its really that simple. I can see something and that could spark an idea which over the next couple of weeks turns into a piece of art. My main art inspirations would be Basquiat, Francis Bacon, Blondey McCoy and Damien Hirst. Each have a very Unique style, but each have had a similar impact on the way I see and make art. I was very inspired by Basquiat when I first got into making art and used to paint like him all the way through art GCSE, we would be doing a fine art lesson or a drawing lesson and I would used to paint on pieces of paper in the style of Basquiat because that’s what I found interesting to make.

I recently created a zine about addiction in youth culture today. It covers topics from drug addiction to fashion and fast-food to plastic surgery and social media. Its full of bright graphics, collages and graffiti which gives it a very raw look. Most of the artwork in there wouldn’t work on its own but together they all fit perfectly. My initial idea going into the zine was that I wanted to get a message across, I wanted the artwork to be powerful enough to do that and I wanted people to enjoy what they were looking at. To tick all those boxes would be very difficult and you can never please everyone, so my advice to other young artists is to just do what makes you happy and looks good to you and other people will follow.

For more of Oliver's work check out his Instagram

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