My studio is part of at least a hundred others very similar to ours all spread across four large warehouses on Fountayne Road in London. I love living here. It’s old school, colorful, rundown, trashy and the people all look super interesting and do something creative.
My studio is live/work, so everything happens in here, and it really isn't big: 23’ long, 15' wide, with a little mezzanine for the bed and storing paintings and stuff.
The floor and walls are painted white and there is a 23’ high ceiling which makes the space appear more airy. Since this building is a Victorian warehouse, nothing is insulated. It gets super hot in summer and freezing in winter, anywhere from 10—40 degrees celsius. After 8 years in here, you learn to adapt. So, in winter, I don’t ever take off my moon boots and thermal underwear, whereas in summer, it’s bikini time 24/7.
Since this space is live/work, it creates the best situation imaginable for me, and there are only a few compromises. One of them is the lack of a kitchen. It’s possible for us to cook with a Thermomix, but there isn't any proper space to prepare food, and we haven't used a fridge in years. The broken fridge is still here but doesn't do much more than being a surface to work on and for keeping my magnet collection.
Another compromise is what comes with living in a workshop: fine paint dust from airbrushing covers the whole place, as well as paint specks and blobs flying onto everything from furniture to electronics, clothes and plates. All in all, however, I would never want to change anything about this studio, other than maybe tearing down the wall to the next door unit to double the size. —Super Future Kid
This article originally published in the Fall 2018 issue. Portrait by Ian Cox.
