The UK tends itself culturally to a lot of satirical works and a general irony you can find in the air. A lot of where I grew up was fields and greenery which in turn can make you a little more introspective as the input you receive from your environment is a little less demanding. Media wise, growing up I received 70s/ 80s VHS tapes from my parents which were shows like "The Trap Door' or "Jamie and the Magic Torch', both of which were somewhat psychedelic and very creative British exports. I was always fascinated by their mystique and other worldliness, it didn't feel dated per se but literally pulled from a different dimension.

With the weather here being shit and being born in a world yet to be dominated by phones or tablets you'd have to amuse yourself. I'd occasionally play videogames on the PS2 but was more inclined to construct worlds and narrative using Lego and action figures for hours on end.

If someone came round to play we'd usually dress up and create some form of gamified other fantasy world. With some of the "Gurt' stuff some people have said there's a working class element in there which I guess is right but it's not something I'm aware of, it's just how I write or construct my work.

When I minted my first piece in September 2020 and it sold, that was a complete branch into a different life. It was genuinely surreal to sell a jpeg, the concept seemed so foreign but after a few days I felt like, yeah this is something. I wasn't sure if it was something I'd be able to do forever but it was a rabbit hole I definitely fell down at that time. The commissioned work was becoming a major chore with countless revisions to works, you essentially become a tool for someone else. At that time I was still pumping out personal works but I never really dreamed of being an artist at that time, it seemed way too far fetched.

The characters were produced during a period where I was creating works daily so their particular origins are pretty hard to pin down. Friend #12 was inspired by the title of a Basquiat piece "To Repel Ghosts', I thought it was such a vivid image so I made the character. In the early stages of these works I'd rely on pareidolia when combining random shapes to try to create a novel look. Friend #54 was a take on a "bored ape' I sold at 1 ETH.

It's always nice to have some sort of validation for your work but it isn't the inherent goal, if it was I probably would be in a different position. I always try to make work that I would like to see in the world first before any other considerations.

I've been dabbling with some more physical elements in my work for a while and the puppets seem like a natural fit with my work. With the puppets to me it's one of the most compelling ways to bring the art to life as well as creating a sculpture in the process. I've always liked the tactile nature of theatre productions and the ways they present worlds through perspective and illusion. I think it's very aligned with how artists create depth in a painting- they both use elements of "magic' to create a heightened reality. Then there's the obvious link to Henson who I've always been inspired by in terms of impact, world building and even visual motifs you can see in my illustrative work with the noses for example, it was a natural progression. A more recent inspiration was from a sequence in "Beau is Afraid' which uses a lot of practical theatre techniques mixed with animation.

I wanted to use these mediums specifically for this project as it feels like it has a softer touch than some of my illustrative works, the puppet videos have a warmth which I think makes it more accessible and allows a conversation with my inspirations like the works of Henson at the same time.

I chose this approach as it was the idea that came to me, it's the way I naturally think. Personifying abstractions in the world seems a deeply human practice, if we look at ancient gods for example or any poetry, this practice is everywhere. To me, it's a way to relate and romanticise something we can never get close enough to but have a deep yearning to.

I hope it offers more awareness of their internal world as something that's controllable for the most part, but it should also be something as awe inspiring as space to me. It's incredible. The visions your mind can conjure, it's a magic machine between your ears.

The cynical stuff is definitely toned down here and for the most part wearing those goggles all the time just makes you depressed. I needed a counterpoint to work with, a lot of the last collection with Asprey Studio had that tone and when I was finished with it I didn't feel good. For a lot of good work at the crux of it is a tension or contrast between elements, you need a push and pull to make something interesting so that's how I approached it in the "Idea Institute' but with a lighter touch.

Well without the space I wouldn't be an artist so I have to credit the space for that, but beyond that it for me has acted like a sandbox or playpit to experiment as much as I've wanted, the beautiful thing about the space is for the most part you're only limited by your idea, in contrast to a traditional gallery setting.

What excites me the most is being on the edge of something, where you're stumbling into the dark and bumping into things you didn't know were there. This is what digital art and technology provides for me.

For me their role varies project to project. Sometimes I'd say they have no role whatsoever or sometimes they have the most crucial work. A good example of this would be comparing "Lost in the Supermarket' to our "Gurt' popup in Miami 2022. The two works had completely different goals, one relied on people to help it function and the other was a solitary endeavour.

There's so much I'd like to do, I think the art world is incredibly far beyond but has a superiority complex for one reason or another. For example, compare the immersive spaces of art exhibits to a renowned theme park or the NFT world's sloppy gamification to an indie game created by one person. There are huge discrepancies in the art world which I think really short changes the audience and leads to slower onboarding as a whole. This is what I'm into.