I’m from Pembrokeshire originally and went to art schools in London, Norwich and Canterbury. My mum worked as a cook in a nursing home and my dad was a car mechanic.

When I was at school, I enjoyed cycling from my home in Johnston to the Graham Sutherland Gallery in Picton. Sutherland’s landscapes were an early inspiration. Some of the work from this gallery has now been transferred to Oriel y Parc in St. David’s.

At Norwich School of Art, Ana Maria Pacheco was in charge of Fine Art. As well as being an inspirational painter, printmaker and sculptor, she instilled a sense of discipline and brought out the best in all her students by encouraging them to work hard and follow their own vision.

My Master’s degree at Canterbury was in Art and Architecture. This helped me to focus on the idea of site-responsive and site-specific art practice.

Other major influences include artists of the Italian Renaissance, especially Giotto, Piero della Francesca, Bellini, Caravaggio and Tintoretto; 19th century artists such as Cezanne and Van Gogh; 20th century artists including Picasso, Rothko, Rauschenberg, Abromovic and Mendieta; and more recent artists like Salcedo, Whiteread, Gates and Bruguera.

Music is a huge inspiration to me. Max Richter, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, Benjamin Britten and Thomas Tallis are some of my favourite composers. I also love the work of David Bowie, PJ Harvey, The Dead Weather, Radiohead and Nick Cave.

I always start with a response to something, whether this is political, cultural, temporal or situational. Initially I make written notes and then think about how my ideas can be made into material or performative form. There are a lot of trials and errors, with many failures on the way, before getting to a final version which I’m reasonably happy with. This is not to say that the resultant work is a definitive statement, it’s just a point at which I want to pin it down. I often make several versions or a series of related pieces.

If I use materials, I try to choose whatever is most appropriate for the idea and reach for as simple and clear an outcome as possible. Part of this process is experimenting and playing with different materials. If it’s a performative work, again constant trial and revision is key. Performative pieces are usually recorded via photos or video.

I don’t have a favourite since as long as it offers something to the concept, anything really is up for grabs.

When I was a student, I initially used mostly painting and printmaking, though in the final year of my degree course and in my MA course I started to incorporate found materials such as textiles, building materials and reclaimed wood.

After I finished studying, I continued with this mixed media approach and eventually developed work utilising photography and video. Informing all of this was an intense growing awareness of site and text as being the impulse for much of my work.