I grew up on Anglesey and attended Bodedern High School before doing an Art and Design Foundation course for a year at Coleg Menai, Bangor. I really enjoyed art from the start of secondary school, but also liked the science subjects. I studied Art, Biology and Maths at A-level and decided I wanted to study Architecture at university. Before going to Cambridge University to do so, the Foundation course gave me the opportunity to experiment with different styles and materials, as well as gaining confidence when discussing concepts and art history. I worked with the German artist Benjamin Walther under the name 'Awst & Walther' for ten years between 2007 and 2017, and we divided our time between Caernarfon and Berlin.

Land Art artists who explored the relationship between a specific landscape or site, and art in the 60s e.g., Richard Long, Robert Smithson, Nancy Holt and Joseph Beuys. They were very playful with materials and forms and pushed the boundaries of art by taking it out of galleries and museums and creating large scale or even architectural work. They used the land or soil or stones as raw materials in their art and tried to change people's perspective about the world around them. More recently, artists such as Olafur Eliasson, Pierre Huyghe, Roni Horn (and I through the work of Awst & Walther) are developing the same themes but in a contemporary context. This is extremely important in my opinion, considering the ecological crisis, global warming and related social problems.

I like simplicity in design. I try to show the character of raw material in the design by expanding natural organic features and including fine details in a piece of art. I love the idea of ​​having beautiful objects around us. I enjoy the process of designing with this in mind and creating an abstract form that conveys a story or a narrative or a feeling.

I start by developing ideas: thinking about topics that interest me, and what I want to say with the piece. Who is the audience, and what effect will the piece have on those who see it? Where will it be displayed – in a gallery or in the open air? What kind of funding is available for creating the piece? All of this affects the uses and form of the art piece e.g., sculpture / installation / film / performance.

I use sketchbooks a lot - making notes and sketches of different pieces and various versions of them. I also collect images and paste them in. This is how I gather ideas.

Finally, the creation itself – can I create the piece myself in the studio, or do I need the help of a technician? It often depends on the materials and the size of the piece e.g., if I'm creating a film, I can do a lot of the work myself, but I might want a musician to compose a soundtrack. If the piece is large and complex out of metal or wood, I will need to work with a blacksmith or carpenter.

This varies a lot, and I don't limit myself to one palette of materials but use a wide range depending on the project. Over the years I have used wood, metal, glass, stones, concrete, ice, gelatine, grapes, shells, hedges, and soil. I believe that it’s important to be open-minded about materials, to be able to choose what is most relevant at the time, and constantly look for new, interesting uses.

Through exhibiting my work in different cities over the years (including Cardiff, London, Berlin, Prague, Basel and Moscow), I have become much more confident and ready to express my identity in the work. I am Welsh, with my unique way of looking at the world around me. It’s an amazing experience to walk down a street in the centre of Berlin and see a huge installation of mussels that I collected on the banks of the Menai Straits. It's important to hold on to what interests and excites you, and celebrate what makes you unique, because every artist has their own personal story to share with the world.