Ollie Godwin

My name is Ollie Godwin, and I am a painter based in South London. I went to Central St Martins to study Art in a film / sound context, but I had some trouble during my studies and struggled to make it through the degree course. I ended up painting and drawing to keep me going when I didn’t feel well and now my practice primarily involves painting, drawing and animation, although I do write a lot and hope to be able to make film work at some point in the future.

I am really interested in exploring hegemonic masculinity and religious indoctrination, as I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian organisation that was structured patriarchally. I try to use humour as much as possible in my work, to find a way to stay happy whilst making art about such generally unfunny subject matter.

I am mainly inspired by cats, cannabis, Francis Bacon, my mate Joe, the bible, actual bacon, Hannah Black, shit TV, Quentin Blake, builders / tradesmen, plants, YouTube and a handful of Art school tutors and fellow Artists who have been incredibly supportive and formative to my practice over the last few years.

Instagram: @thereisnogodwin

Where would you like your work to take you?

L.A. would be pretty good, but failing that I'd like to make more film work and try and get in more exhibitions. Maybe when the world has got back to normal a bit I might try making a film or curate an exhibition or something, I'd love to put on an exhibition in London one day, where all the selected Artists made work that, in one way or another explored their different relationships with Cannabis under prohibition. Maybe I'd follow that up with a group show about Jesus or something, anyway that's where I might like it to take me.

Which part of your creative process do you enjoy most?

I really enjoy making anything to do with religion and Christianity, or masculinity and patriarchy because that feels personal and makes me get self-reflective I think. So any time I’m working on something to do with those subjects, I get pretty excited. I like to record conversations and transcribe them and try to experiment with different forms of retelling things either through sound work or by painting. I also really enjoy drawing and painting people off the telly.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

Cats, cannabis, the bible, any shit TV, builders / tradesmen, plants, YouTube, Papa Roach, the Bayeux Tapestry, football fans, fast food, televangelism, Jasper Johns, Hannah Black and the mad stuff my mum says.

What piece of music would you say compliments your work the most?

Afroman - Because I Got High

Can you list a couple other creatives/friends/people you look to for inspiration?

Joseph Garwood, Sam Hacking, Bad Art Collective, Florence Hutchings, Katie Morton, Jonny Drewek, Scottee.