If you could speak to your younger self just before you had properly embarked on your creative journey what would you tell them? 

I mean, I would tell my younger self just to keep making. I use creativity as a form of expression and of connection so I would tell my younger self just to keep making and not to worry what anybody else thinks. My creative practice will always resonate and connect with the people that need to receive it.

Your work makes trans bodies and trans joy visible, what does visibility mean to you personally and politically?

Yeah, my work is about visibility and there is a huge emphasis on transjoy. This is super important to me within the context of the world we are living in. Trans visibility and representation across big media platforms is quite negative, heavy and loaded, rather than being an elevation of actual trans people, our stories and our narratives. There are lots of beautiful experiences and there are lots of stories of joy and hope and celebration within the trans journey. For me it's really important to keep sharing that because I know that the younger generations specifically need it and that feels important. Existing right now as a trans person is quite political.  

Why is affirmation important in your practice?

When I first began my transition I was in a difficult place emotionally and mentally. I began writing little affirmations on post-it notes and putting them around. One of the notes I wrote was You Are Loved which was a huge huge affirmation that you see in my work and murals now. I put the post-it on a mirror while I was going through my transition and experiencing real gender dysphoria with my body. I remember looking at myself in the mirror and reading that affirmation out loud. It just began to work. I would do it everyday as a kind of mantra and I really did start to like what I saw in the mirror. I believe if it worked for me then maybe that kind of affirmation could work for someone else too. 

Your colour choices are electric and intentional. Why do you make the colour choices that you do?

The pink and blue is this inherent social binary colour that we assign; blue for boys and pink for girls. I started playing off with that binary initially and wanted to understand what those colours meant for me as a trans artist and how they felt. I think part of me had been conditioned to believe that pink was just for girls, it was very interesting. I started using pink more and more, and it became more and more active in my work. I actually realised how much I love the colour pink when I kind of disengage with those social conditions. The more I painted with it, the happier I felt. I researched and found that pink can trigger dopamine release. Pink can activate joy within us just from looking at it. It just embodied this need and desire to use pink often. The yellow came about from quite a long series of meditations that I was doing. It’s reflective of our solar plexus, the sun, life force and creative energy. 

What do studio working and working in public spaces both give you separately?

I mean, I love working in my studio. I tend to paint outside mostly in the summer and then kind of go with the seasons and move inwards to paint more in my studio. I love the private practice of studio working; it enables me to really focus without being witnessed. I can birth new ideas quite unconsciously and privately, before I take them into a public space. There is safety in my studio practice. When I’m out in public I do generally have to be aware of where I’m painting because of the nature of my work and what I talk about. Also just to be aware because of the nature of myself and my own existence. There is freedom in both and there are limitations in both. I think I can express myself sometimes more freely when I’m in my studio, but outside I can bring ideas to life.

Has someone ever approached your work in a way that surprised or moved you deeply?

Once I was painting a mural in Portsmouth and a young trans person who had just begun their journey told me they had just moved to the area and felt scared because they didn’t know anybody. They walked past my mural everyday and realised there was somebody older that was on that same journey and that made them feel safe. I hold that conversation with me deeply. 

Another time I was painting and headlining UpFest in Bristol and a woman approached me, knowing nothing about me and my work, but she connected with the scars and shared her story about her mastectomy as a breast cancer survivor. We shared tears and stories and it was really powerful and beautiful. 

Your ‘i EXiST’ project is powerful and intimate. How did the idea arise and what did you learn through creating it?

The i EXiST project and book unfolded as a project during lockdown. I think a lot of us during that time were feeling that disconnect from other humans. I was drawing a lot of self portraits of myself, my own transition and healing. It occurred to me that I had never really drawn another trans body and I wanted to know what that process might be like for me and for others. 

I knew for myself that my self portraits had been empowering and I wanted to give that to others. I began drawing beautiful, different and diverse trans bodies. Some were friends and others were people who reached out to me. Before I knew it I had over 50 people from around the world, I was illustrating and able to share their stories. The project really cemented this idea that I was actually sharing and connecting through artwork. It's become such a beautiful learning resource and something quite intimate. I am so grateful to everyone who participated. 

If your creative process was a physical gesture or movement what would it be?

I think it would be a deep embodied hug. I think my work is filled with love and with joy regardless of its nature. 

What has been the most unexpected joy so far in your journey as Mr Samo?

To date it has been the people that I have met. There is no way I would have met the abundance of incredible and diverse people from all over the world if I’d not been on this creative journey. I think that embodies the power of art. By working creatively and authentically and sharing my message, I’ve met people that align with my values and want to support my trans community. My creative practice has enabled real, beautiful and deep connections.

Across his work, Mister Samo creates spaces of recognition and care. Whether encountered in the street, a gallery, or shared online, his characters invite moments of pause, reflection, and connection. Affirmation is not only a visual element in his practice but a lived methodology, one that extends beyond the artwork into community, conversation, and mutual witnessing.

By trusting intuition and honouring play, vulnerability, and joy, Mister Samo’s practice continues to evolve as a form of embodied presence. His work reminds us that visibility can be gentle, that resistance can be joyful, and that simply existing (openly and lovingly) can be a powerful creative act.