43cm x 43cm - Framed

Acrylic & spray paint on canvas

'Too Cool for School' captures the sun bleached attitude of a scruffy beach kid in oversized sunglasses. Part of the Summer Lovin' collection, the piece draws on the carefree spirit of 1970s and 80s Australian summers - salty hair, faded T-shirts, long hot afternoons and just enough cheek to suggest he's probably not where he's meant to be.

I’m a Melbourne-based artist working primarily with hand-cut stencils and spray paint. I’ve been a full-time artist since 2007, after spending 15 years in graphic design - which probably explains why I still obsess over composition, colour and whether something is three millimetres out.

My work is driven by storytelling, memory and the strange way ordinary images stick with us. Much of it draws on Australian life in the 1970s and 80s - suburban streets, old cars, pop culture and the little visual details that can suddenly take you straight back somewhere.

I’m interested in that moment when an image triggers a feeling before you’ve quite worked out why. The memories often start with my own experiences, but ideally the paintings leave enough room for people to bring their own stories to them.

Each work is built from hand-cut, layered stencils and spray paint. There’s a lot of intricate, time consuming cutting, a lot of paint and occasionally some questioning of my sanity. I like the tension between precision and imperfection - sharp edges, overspray, layering and all the things that stop it feeling too slick.