Fabien Ho

1. Please tell us about the work you will be showing in the 2010 E17 Art Trail?

The work will mostly be photographs in different formats which I have taken in & around Walthamstow, as well as far flung trips to India, Egypt, Peru and other places. Some of these may be exotic places but they will never be home like E17! Hence the title of my exhibition: "Wanderlust, To & From". It is based around the idea that no matter how far I travel, its a nice feeling to come home.

2. How many times have you taken part in the Trail?

This is my first time so I'm feeling my way as I go along, but enjoying the adventure of not knowing what I am supposed to be doing next

3. What kind of things inspire you to create art?
My photography is my escapism I guess. I realise I am very much an observer and often someone who finds it difficult to take part. Sometimes my photography is a way of coping with everything outside. Through photography, I find a away of withdrawing. But sometimes, through photography, I find a way of engaging. It is only recently I've started showing friends and family my photos and everyone seems to think they are good enough to be exhibited... I guess facebook has its uses, without it, my photography all these years might never have seen the light of day.

4. What challenges (if any) do you face in preparing yourself and your work for the Trail?
My biggest challenge at the moment is motivation and getting over my back trouble... Also, I seem to know how to take photos, but to curate and exhibit them? That is a new ball game altogether... I best get my act together soon!

5. Who are your favourite artists?
I like Grayson Perry's pots... His pottery is splendid, even if I don't quite understand the doll-dressing up persona. His work makes E17 proud. I used to like Emin, but only because I could say I went to the same college as her (Kent Institute of Art & Design). I still love the silent power that is Antony Gormley's statues. Even if some people are saying he is milking them to an inch of their lives. When I was at school, the enormous wraps done by Christo used to take my breath away. I don't think art is as meaningful as it used to be. Perhaps Tate Modern has a little to answer for that, although I love the Tate. Without it, art would still be elitist and intimidating.

6. Please tell us two things you really like about Walthamstow?
I love Walthamstow because of its stark contrast & contradictions. On the one hand you have the quaint historic heritage village, its café, deli, art shop, butchers, the lovely little Italian restaurant where we had our wedding lunch this Spring - All of which could not be further apart from the bustling noisy high street as you battle your way through faces and languages around the world and stall after stall selling anything from the cheap to the sublime. Similarly, on the one hand it is 25 minutes to Oxford Circus on the tube, yet, we are blessed with the open marshes, reservoirs, canal, forest and lake - simply the best of both worlds which could not be poles apart...

7. Please tell us one thing you wish Walthamstow had?
I wish Walthamstow had a council which was more accountable. I really do. We have the dubious honour of being routinely named in Private Eye as a 'rotten borough' due to the cabinet's long term mismanagement of assets and funds, alleged corruption and councillors acting against proper procedures. For years now, we've had vanishing monies, secretive agreements, press gagging and lack of transparency in the way our taxpayers money is spent. It is the one thing which constantly makes me question living here. And our inability to break from this cycle leaves me bewildered.