WHO LET THE DOGS OUT?

This project has been a period of redirection and deeper critical engagement in my practice. I began with a focus on tattoos and the body, initially experimenting with tattooing leather and silicone.

Leather carried symbolic weight that silicone lacked. It has clear associations with skin, age, toughness, and subcultural identity—all themes relevant to the bodies I wanted to explore. It also resonated more directly with the environments that were beginning to influence my thinking, particularly working-class pub spaces like The Masons Arms (Billinge). This pub, where I spent time observing and reflecting, became central to the development of my work. It was in places like this that I first witnessed the casual, almost ambient racism that forms the backdrop of everyday far-right thinking. The old men in The Masons—“skin like old leather,” pint in hand, parroting EDL talking points with a laugh—became living embodiments of the ideology I wanted to challenge.

As my themes developed, my work moved further from a literal exploration of tattoos and closer toward a contextual, satirical critique of English nationalism, masculinity, and reactionary politics. The EDL became a key focus, not just for their overt messaging but for their contradictions—the broken logic, the misspelled placards, the awkward attempts at patriotism that teeter on the edge of parody. These contradictions became a central source of humour in my work. I began to use irony and exaggeration to expose how laughable, fragile, and toxic these ideologies are.

This thematic shift also strengthened my drawing practice. Originally used for surface designs and tattoo motifs, my drawings evolved into full characters—grotesque, cartoonish figures that blend the pub regular, the football lad, and the far-right protestor into one. Drawing became a way of mocking and dissecting the attitudes I was observing.