As part of our Home of Expression campaign, we commissioned 12 inspiring creatives who live, work and play in White City to create unique works that speak to the dynamic energy of the area. Here, we spoke to Sam Cotton on all things creativity and expression.

After receiving his Masters in Animation from the Royal College of Art in 2020, Sam decided to put down creative roots in the area, enjoying the inspiring atmosphere around White City. He was offered a residency at HQI studios and has worked from there since, creating immersive worlds of characters in his bold and playful 3D illustrations and animations. 

Drawing inspiration from a diverse body of references, from horror movies to children’s TV characters and punk to fish tank objects, he plays with portraying the peculiar behind a polished exterior, weaving the literal with the figurative. Through his art, the world is rendered in technicolour, bubble-gum pink, electric blue and vivid tangerine, and all is in motion and larger than life. Yet hidden within are darker themes and distortions that subvert surface-level perceptions.

Sam’s final piece for this project acts as his love letter to HQI studios – his community of creatives – and the energy and character that infuses creative spaces around the area. Taking the form of a journey through White City’s better known and more hidden corners, the narrative features anthropomorphised objects interacting with recognisable scenes from White City House, including the Television Centre Cinema and the forecourt. A multisensory animation, it immerses the viewer in a world unto itself, where mundane objects become extraordinary and locations and physically vibrant and thriving. 

What drew you to this area?

“I went to RCA in White City for my MA in Animation. Prior to this I hadn’t spent much time in White City before, but really enjoyed the atmosphere there. Shortly after graduating, I got in contact with HQI and was offered a residency there. It was funny when I went in the first time as I’d walked past HQI pretty much daily without realising it was there! 

How would you describe the area’s creativity?

“There’s a really interesting mix of history, innovation and collaborative potential in White City. The RCA is there, Imperial is there, Television Centre is there. It’s a real hub of media and entertainment history, whilst having a very relaxed feel to it. The architecture is great and your movement through the area flows in an interesting way with winding pathways and green spaces, so close to great pubs and shops. It’s an incredibly inspiring place just to spend time in. I find the area a great place to focus and very calming. The landscape really feels like it’s constantly evolving, there’s hidden street art, pop-up exhibitions, and film screenings, which make it exciting. I really love HQI as a place. It’s very special, and their contributions to the creative space in White City – artist markets, film screenings, workshops etc – are really important.”

How would you describe your creative expression?

“My work takes the form of looping gifs, films and editorial illustration, and whatever else I think sounds fun! My style is heavily influenced by children’s TV shows such as “In the Night Garden” and “Teletubbies”. People often laugh when I say this, and disregard them as genuine influences, but my work is all about hiding abstract, dark or weird ideas under a level of sheen and glossiness. When you look at children’s TV, it’s pretty strange and has so many interesting ideas in it. 

“I like to draw together elements of surrealism, absurdism, punk and DIY culture and horror. My aim is to integrate specific elements from each genre without confining myself to a single category. This amalgamation often leads to a sense of magical realism and dream logic, particularly evident in the internal structure of the spaces I explore.”

What fuels your inspiration?

“Horror movies badly recorded onto VHS tapes, collectable McDonald’s Toys, fish tank objects, over-the-top game show hosts, theme parks, Godzilla, Czech animation, Raggedy Ann and Andy and the idea that people in the middle of nowhere are making drawings and zines for no reason other than to swap them with their friends.”

“For this piece, I was really inspired by HQI as a melting pot of creatives with multiple different practices existing within one space (painters, sculptors, musicians, writers). I think this is a unique way to run a creative studio and I found it incredibly inspiring to be amongst so many different practices. I was also really inspired by the main space where events take place outside Television Centre. By day you can walk through this space and see people eating lunch, relaxing and enjoying the greenery, but in the evening during the summer this becomes a multi-use space. I’ve watched films there, participated in and attended artist markets, enjoyed DJ’s and much more. I think this is one of the things I love about White City, that there are all these hidden spaces which you can almost stumble upon. It doesn’t try to force its creativity upon you but facilitates creative happening for people to access. I wanted to convey this in the film, to show mundane objects as extraordinary and spaces as vibrant and thriving.”

Describe the process of creating your final piece

“I really wanted to capture the energy of White City, and the idea of there being all these hidden features which you can discover. Lots of the elements are anthropomorphised to really emphasise the character which these spaces have. I wanted to convey my personal experience of spending time in White City as one which was a bit of a surprise, but an incredibly influential and inspiring one.

“It started out with just spending time in White City, walking around and taking in the surroundings. I start with rough sketches and then begin to build into 3D from image references. I wanted the spaces I made to be based on real life imagery, but to take on a life of their own to reflect on the individual experience of moving through White City. I think this was an important idea to recognise in the creative process.

“I made all of the imagery myself, then made the music and sound effects after – I wanted the sound to be as chaotic as the imagery is bright. The soundtrack has all sorts of strange effects and samples, which I wanted to reflect the diversity of the occupations, backgrounds and creative practices of those which occupy White City.”

@sam.woodd