When I was a young art student, I once stumbled across a grotty copy of On The Way to Work; a book detailing the work life of Damien Hirst. Hirst was never an artist that connected with me, but the opening lines of that book have always drifted into my life whenever I forget what my job is...

"Once you rub something out, it's still there really, isn't it? I mean it actually physically is there. That's why [Francis] Bacon is fantastic, because he doesn't rub out. He just accepts his lot...It's not like acting being an artist. It's like: "Live with it, you cunt." If it's weak, that's you. To be weak publicly is a great way to make art."

I am a working artist and animator, born in a dead part of England, and making work about what that means. I've been working as a freelancer on a variety of animation and illustration projects for the past five years, but recently, things changed, and I'm now working independently on more personal things.