ABOUT ME

Helz

Born exactly nine months after Valentine's Day to West Indian immigrants, my entry into the world was traumatic to say the least. Obviously I can't remember it but by all accounts it set the theme of how my life would continue - cheating death while covered in my own poop. 

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I started painting when I was 4 years old. My Auntie still has several of my childhood paintings framed and hanging in her home. They're awful and she's too kind. My Dad used to take my brothers and me to art galleries a lot when we were kids. If you were to ask him now he'd probably say it was to give us some culture but in reality I'm pretty sure it's because art galleries are quiet and it's the only place we couldn't run around shouting and beating the crap out of each other. By around 5 or 6 it was apparent I loved anything and everything creative.

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Between 8 and 17 my creative pursuits took a backseat to football, athletics and basketball. However, due to health issues in my late teens and early twenties all dreams of being a pro-athlete had to be put to bed.

In 2005 I had surgery to remove a tumour at the base of my brain. I took a year out to recover in which time I was producing music and collaborating with people all over the world (yay internet!). 

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In 2009 I was diagnosed with Crohn's Disease after years of suffering its debilitating symptoms. In 2010 I underwent surgery to have a colectomy and during the recovery period I started getting back into painting and photography. 

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After a chance meeting with some straight up KINGS in Westfield (they didn't even pay me to say that or anything!) in 2014 I started collaborating with an East London based breakin' crew called Rain Crew. A few months later I joined the crew as a videographer. Since 2014 the crew has evolved beyond being 'just' a dance crew and in its current state is more an arts collective. 

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I can regularly be found at Centre Stage studio or wandering Rain Crew events with my camera looking lost and unapproachable but that's just my face. I'm actually very nice if you speak to me so if you ever see me around come say hello :)