Adam has been working with latex for over a decade, creating installations and wearable art inspired by history, sci-fi, and kink. Through his personal and evolving pieces, he aims to communicate different aspects of himself and his fantasies.

Greetings Adam, can you please introduce yourself? Where are you from? What is your artistic background? How long have you been working with latex?

I’m originally from northern England and now live in London. From a young age I was always making puppets, models and costumes. Growing up surrounded by building sites, I was always scavenging for materials on the weekends when the builders weren't around. I get a lot of my inspiration from an object or material, it always starts like that, my process is organic, feeling my way through. I don't just have an idea, sketch it and then make it. I feel like the materials are as much the creator as me, we get together and something new comes out of it.

You make latex installations and wearable art. What inspired you to start working with this material?

I began working with latex around 10 years ago. I wanted things to wear at fetish parties but couldn’t find exactly what I liked so taught myself how to make latex outfits. Once I got my head around working with it, the floodgates opened and all these ideas just poured out, the things I made were my fantasies becoming reality, it was exciting. But I found my outfits were becoming more and more impractical for clubbing, some of them I couldn't walk around or see in, this made me realize I could start thinking about them as more art pieces than something to wear on a night out.

Do you have any artists, people, things, situations, that you usually take up as inspiration for your creations? What are they?

As a kid I was always taken around to castles, museums, churches, ancient battlefields, all that kind of stuff. Seeing amazing old buildings, disturbing frescos, creepy life sized stone sculptures of the dead on top of tombs always vividly fueled my imagination. In a way I struggled to articulate, I felt connections to the people who left all this stuff behind, separated by time but in a way I felt we were communicating with each other. Now I’m always going to the big museums and galleries here in London to get my fix of this kind of history.

Can you walk us through your creative process? Do you start with a specific shape in mind? Do you do everything yourself? How long does it usually take you?

Usually I start with playing. Just like as a kid I used to play with lego, Star Wars toys, plasticine, whatever was to hand, playing with objects and projecting my imagination onto them is always a good jumping off point. I’m a huge scifi fan so that combined with my kink background and interest in history, my work does have a kind of style that mixes all this stuff up. I do a lot of freelance work as a set builder/art department in the commercial photography/moving image industry so I construct things and decorate them everyday, this has helped develop my skills as a maker and so for my costumes and installation pieces I do everything myself. I’m putting together a small exhibition of photos of my work and I’m even making the photo frames for it. I have never been able to find what I want off the shelf so I find myself making everything. It’s hard to say how long things take to make as my stuff can be a minimal costume or a huge installation piece that houses 5 people, anything from a week to months of work.

You became known in the London fetish scene. How did that come about? And how did you progress into wider audiences?

Being on the fetish scene, people started to see my work and I got asked to perform or exhibit at parties and events. After a year or so of doing this I also started showing my work outside the fetish world, opening my studio up and performing at Hackney Wicked, a local arts festival. I guess I got seen doing that because I then was asked to perform at the V&A and have my work photographed in the fashion magazine Schon. I have found just the act of doing something, whether it's a personal project that I show online or getting involved with other people's events, the momentum usually leads to more and more things.

What is the message that you are trying to convey with your installations and pieces?

The costumes and installations are very personal and my understanding of them evolves as my understanding of myself evolves. One day I may perform a piece in a way that's very playful and fun, the next time I may do it in a way that's very emotional and intense. I have performed the same piece at free public event on Wellington Harbour in New Zealand and then in the fetish club Torture Garden. While I used the same piece, I performed and communicated very different things, both were honest and open, but represented very different parts of myself.

Can you tell us about a meaningful situation or experience in your art career so far?

I had a great three year run at the World of Wearable Arts show (WOW) in New Zealand, a theatrical arena show all about amazing costumes. After one of the shows I met Richard Taylor, the co-founder of Weta workshop. He very kindly invited me over to visit Weta where I got to see all the costumes, models and props from the amazing films they have worked on over the years. I was totally geeking out over the Lord of the Rings stuff and especially the things from Peter Jackson's early horror movies. I’ve been over to Weta a few times now and am always bowled over by how kind and welcoming they are. At WOW I won several awards including a month's Artist Residency in Montreal at Cirque Du Soleil's headquarters where I essentially got to play and experiment in all of their costume and prop departments. It was such an inspiring environment.

Finally, what is next for the future? Have any exciting projects coming up?

I have been accepted into the Sarabande Foundation, an organization set up by the late Alexander McQueen that supports artists. I’ll be moving into the studio in Tottenham this summer so I am busy preparing for that. I’m developing a new giant installation piece that I’m both excited to perform and pretty intimidated by, its BIG!!!. Will hopefully be showing this later on in the year.