When it comes to a successful career what’s more important – ideas or technique?

You can be a great practitioner but if it doesn’t have a backbone – if it isn’t about something – then what’s the point making it? Implementation is always second to the idea.

What made you choose painting, rather than another form of expression?

It was the thing that came naturally to me. It sounds lazy, but it was the easiest place for me to do it, so I was more able to focus on the concept, not the implementation. I could have had an idea for a theatre production, but I’d have had no idea how to make it. 

Do you have any advice, as a curator, to young artists looking to get into galleries?

There are practical aspects to displaying and installing work that artists need to consider. Quality is important – I don’t want things that will start curling on the wall, or haven’t been mounted properly. People need to think about how their work will be presented. If they sketch me out a floorplan or how it’ll look in the gallery it helps me get my head around what they want to get out of the show.

You’re judging Who Are You 2 alongside photographers Rankin and Giles Duley. What are you looking for?

Honest, brave work. It’s quite hard to talk about who you are, but if you can do that in a unique way it can be amazing. Whether it’s photography or illustration or painting doesn’t really bother me; it’s more how big and bold the idea is.

Early on in your career you sold your work on eBay – do you have any advice on how emerging artists can get their work seen?

Don’t ram your work down people’s throats if it’s not interesting, because you only really get one shot. So make sure you’re confident in what you’ve done.

I didn’t embark on that project specifically to gather attention or sell work – I just couldn’t think of another way to share it. I was living in a small town with no galleries; there were no blogs back then. I started the bidding at £2 a picture and it just grew. I started doing it again on New Year’s Day, under the name The Daily Doodle. It means I have a really important interaction with the people who buy my work. 

There was a period when I had people in the back of my mind when I was making things, and it probably resulted in the worst work ever made. Now I just try to make the work I want to make and people can decide how much it’s worth.

For a while you worked under a persona called nancyboy – what did that allow you to do?

You can be braver; I felt like I had more freedom. Maybe it made it easier to take criticism, although that’s still hard. People slagging you off for the hell of it isn’t cool but if they can explain why they don’t like something, then that’s useful.

What’s your studio like?

I only moved in six months ago – it’s an old joinery and was used to make boats during the war. It’s 1,000 square foot with a pitched ceiling, concrete walls and an office at the back. I’m very clean – I put everything back in its right place at the end of each day. It’s almost like a lab. I listen to music non-stop. I’m listening to Ed Harcourt again and Conor Orberst, as well as some 80s Bob Dylan. 

Have you ever been given a great piece of advice you’d pass on to other young artists?

I wish someone had said to me, “It’s okay to take your time, you don’t have to rush.” When you’re young you feel like you’ve got five minutes to achieve everything but actually art is a long game. You’ll be doing it until you’re 80 or 90 if you’re lucky. So it’s okay to take a couple of years on something.

Also, an art dealer once told me to keep my head down and make the stuff. It’s simple, but to the point.

To find out more about Who Are You 2, visit the Arts University Bournemouth website.