bP: Hey Victoria! Could you take us back to the beginning? Where did you grow up, and how would you describe your formative years? Was art a part of your childhood at all?
VG: I grew up in Leeds. I didn't grow up going to galleries or discussing contemporary art. But my dad is probably one of the most creative people I know, so I was around him drawing, or when I got a bit older, and iPads came out, he would sit for hours making a "sound" piece. Like arts for art sake and out of context. Which I found very embarrassing growing up to be honest. And now I see so much of myself in both my parents.
bP: The show of stolen goods New York version was in a U-Haul — that was such a bold mobile idea. What inspired you to do a show in that unconventional format?
VG: After collecting items people had stolen from work, through a callout and doing a London show, some of my mates in New York wanted to submit and also Jack Chase, who'd followed the London show, said let's do a New York version. Jack said I know this guy, James (Sunquist) who had just started a gallery in a U-Haul. It seemed a perfect fit, it also allowed us to pull up outside institutions and reach different demographics. The stolen goods show was a success and Jack and James now run Uhaul Gallery together.
bP: In collecting items people have stolen from work are there any patterns or stories that have emerged that surprised you?
VG: Across the board it seems people love to steal from work.
bP: When you first started exhibiting your work publicly were there any lessons you picked up on your journey of sharing your ideas with the world?
VG: Exhibiting is one thing, but I will say, I started making work in public, testing things out in public before I even knew what conceptual or performance art was — these "tests", like filming my mates doing a movement on shift, or secretly changing the floor in some way and seeing if it changed the way people walked, or working with the general public with a performance idea on the way to work. Thus, I was already getting general questions of like why and how, before I knew. These tests can go on for years or months.
bP: Can you take us back to the moment you opened your acceptance email from the Royal Academy — where were you, how did you feel, and who was the first person you shared the exciting news with?
VG: I was at work. I didn't really tell anyone at my job that I'd applied, but my good mate Lottie was also working that day. So I told her. I was very surprised; I really never intended to study an art masters, never mind attend the Royal Academy. I applied because a curator I respected had asked for a studio visit a couple of times, and I was being evasive because I didn't have a studio at that time. They figured that out and said, ok you don't have a studio, that's ok, it seems like you work in a way that you don't need one, I kinda get what you're trying to do. In the same conversation, as I was saying I didn't go to art school and I'm not particularly interested in it, they said have you thought about the Royal Academy. That conversation was in October and I applied in December.
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