Sync

CATERINA said - We’ve worked on lots of things together on 2012. When did you first get interested in this work?

JON said: I wanted to be an artist at 6, but I ended up being an artist for everyone else and hiding my talent. In 2005, when we found out that the Olympics and Paralympics were coming to London, I decided that this was the way I was going to change my life and be an artist for me! We met soon after this. Now after 3 Open Weekends (an Open Weekend is a celebration every July leading up to the Olympic and Paralympic Games) I am not doing art for other people, but for myself and other people are doing art for me, being my artist. That’s nice! I am also doing a project called ‘Look About’ – it’s like a map about what I know about rocks showing different projects in the Cultural Olympiad.

CATERINA said: It’s a great project. So how has Sync helped?

JON said: To change things, I needed to find out more about myself and to learn new things about how to move forward. I learned that you can’t take everyone with you on a journey. You can’t make people do things if they don’t want to. You have to leave some people behind to get to where you want to go.

CATERINA said: I agree. My job says that I must light the fire of change, but you have to really convince them.

It’s no good if it doesn’t work for people. In the South East, everyone is very excited about 2012 and that’s because of your great work and the work of other disabled and deaf artists too.

CATERINA said: We work well together. There are many things we don’t understand. I don’t understand art and charts, and you don’t like words that much and I use words a lot. We do both like to be quite naughty with our art to change people’s thinking. We also think that doing something well is important too.

JON said: Yes and I like working in different ways. I like making work that puts people outside of art into the picture.

CATERINA said: Is that making it more normal?

JON said: Hopefully not. As a person with Aspergers, I never find working with people easy, but it’s worth having a go. I trust you and respect what you do in the South East to get disabled and deaf artists in the picture.

CATERINA said: So what about change?

JON said: You only have to look at the fossil records to see that change always happens, but it’s how you deal with it.. Like Caroline (Cardus) said this morning, it's how you look at things, how you work with things - life will always find a way.

CATERINA said: How about your own change?

JON said: I wouldn't have done it without Sync or 2012. It made me stop hiding and to be my own artist. Sync helped me find out about me and that helped me make a success of changing my life.

CATERINA said: Can I ask you one more thing about how you bring your geology background into your ‘Look About’ project

JON said: I have crossed two passions and two loves. I love geology - it’s what I did when people said I couldn’t do art. Now I’ve proved I can do art, I can put the geology into this project. It’s great