Artist I. Relevant’s Statement

Little Boy Hiding in the Big, Bad World 

Little Boy Hiding in the Big, Bad World is a though-provoking body of work that explores themes of purpose, growing up, and the realities of poverty, hunger, and war. Through a playful and often humorous approach, I use familiar childhood references and popular culture to attract audiences into questioning individualism, societal expectations, and the pursuit of success within a materialistic world. By incorporating song lyrics and reworking cultural references, the work highlights the contradictions between the ideals we teach children and the realities of contemporary life. 

The work spans a variety of media, including drawings on furniture and walls, creating an evolving narrative that extends beyond conventional boundaries. Spilling across frames and surfaces, the imagery amplifies the presence of the objects it inhabits, while the void left in its absence reflects the marks we leave behind and the spaces created when we are gone, exploring themes of memory, legacy, loss, and impermanence. 

At the centre of the work is a distinctive childlike visual language. A recurring figure, the little boy, appears within speech bubbles that emerge from towering buildings in an expanding cityscape. The figure acts as a metaphor for curiosity, self-discovery, and the questioning of one’s role within the complexities of contemporary society. 

Known as I. Relevant, the character’s name plays on the word “irrelevant”, reflecting the difficulty of creating positive change while feeling small within a much larger world. The use of a child figure evokes empathy and familiarity, offering a deliberately non-confrontational approach to challenging subject matter. Adopted as my pseudonym, Artist I Relevant blurs the boundary between artist and character, allowing me to weave personal experiences into fictional narratives while creating a safe space in which autobiographical themes can be explored. 

Large-scale furniture plays an important role in inviting interaction. By encouraging adults to engage with the work in a playful, childlike manner, I aim to create moments of personal reflection and renewed curiosity. This approach draws attention to the content while inviting viewers to reconsider the kind of world we have created and continue to pass on to future generations, echoing the sentiment of the lyric, “If we tolerate this, then our children will be next.” 

The body of work also includes Ickle Eye View, a film and sound piece told from the perspective of a little boy growing up amidst poverty and family instability. Presented deliberately as a blank screen, the work invites viewers to imagine the story through their own experiences, memories, and associations while following a narrative constructed entirely from song lyrics. Consistent with the wider body of work, it uses familiarity, humour, and storytelling as a way of engaging audiences with challenging themes. 

Each work within the series informs and enriches the others, creating a cohesive narrative that unfolds like a puzzle. Recurring imagery, themes, and symbols encourage audiences to make connections across the pieces and uncover deeper layers of meaning. 

Originally conceived for waiting rooms and transitional spaces, the work engages with places that sit between where we have come from and where we are going. These are spaces of pause and anticipation, where the past has brought us to the present and the future remains uncertain. By offering a moment of engagement and reflection, the work mirrors this experience, encouraging viewers to consider the journey of life and the