Words Ellie Hughes

“I was happy as a child with a blank sheet of paper and a pencil, and I’m happy as a middle-aged man to be the same,” says David, whose work spans various mediums, from prints to album covers, books and badges, yet remains instantly recognisable – for its distinctive combination of vivid colour, sharp humour and almost childlike line drawing. “There’s a relationship between the images and the text which people appreciate. It is deliberately comic – I am trying to make myself laugh – but I’m also aiming to say something profound.”

In the conversation, shot through with this unique sense of humour, David admits to having Imposter Syndrome – even while his ‘thumbs up’ sculpture, Really Good, featured on the Fourth Plinth at Trafalgar Square and he was awarded his OBE. “When I first had success, I felt like, there must be some mistake which will be rectified at some point in the future. There’s still a part of me which feels like that, but you just have to get over it.”

David, a self-described conceptual and social media artist (“I become an Instagram artist without really intending to”), puts part of his success down to growing up in a ubiquitous red brick estate in the Midlands: “I feel like I’m an everyman in lots of ways.” He studied Environmental Art at Glasgow School of Art, where, he laughs, “The things I learnt weren’t necessarily craft skills. I learned resourcefulness and what my own practice was.” The city, and its Victorian tenements, would be his home for 27 years.

Now, he lives and works in Brighton and Hove with his wife Kim, and mini Schnauzer Inka, who regularly appears in his art. “A lot of my life revolves around caring for an elderly dog,” says David. “A good start to the day is when she hasn’t peed the bed.” He spends regular working hours in his studio with his team. “I’ve always been of the strategy that if you put the hours in, the work makes itself.”

David also opens up about his “light brush” with OCD. “I’m only allowed to check the front door is locked twice, that’s what my therapist says,” explains David. “I don’t tell my wife things like this, but for example, all the books that I’ve read have to be kept on the bookshelf, and no other books are allowed. I think in regards to making art it’s a good thing, it gives me a structure. Art is very much at the centre of who I am and what I do to make myself happy.”

During the episode, he talks about how he and Kim got their last house “wrong”, renting a flat on Brighton Marina before finding their current house, and his planned update to his studio – his “happy place”. Previously owned by a multinational corporation, the studio (which he is working on with the architect David Kohn) will be his legacy project. (You can see the behind the scenes studio tour on Patreon, priced £6 per month for members.) Meanwhile, Kim is taking a more hands-on role, renovating their second home in Devon. “Without wishing to be cloyingly cliched, we learn a lot from our pets,” says David. “My dog is really quite happy wherever we are. Home is where the pack is.”

Forthcoming episodes of Homing feature Anna Jones, Sophie Hicks, Sean Anthony Pritchard, Erdem Moralioglu and Phin Harper. Subscribe to Homing or become a member of Patreon and as always, happy listening.