Like many others, the pandemic had allowed him to reset from a hectic work life where more time was spent on meetings than making things in the workshop. “During Covid, I went a bit feral. We were not supposed to go into the office, so I pretended I was horticulture and inhabited my friend’s orchid farm in Sussex. There, I played with materials. It was really good fun,” shared Dixon.
He even bought a kiln. “It’s in the southern part of England that sits on a massive block of clay, so the buildings are made of brick. I dug up a load of clay and made mainly flowerpots and vases,” said Dixon.
From a young age, he already loved working with his hands. Attending Holland Park School gave him some formal training. “It was really poor at academics but had an amazing art department. I thought I had a lot of luck with that. Quite early on, I found refuge in those spaces,” shared Dixon, who earned a pottery certification at the end of his schooling years.
The self-described introverted child also sought refuge in books. “My sister used to beat me because I was very bookish and wouldn’t play with her,” chuckled Dixon. This changed when he “discovered girls and music.” Dixon enrolled in Chelsea Collage of Arts but left after half a year when a motorcycle accident confined him in hospital for three months.
A brief career as the bass guitarist for disco band Funktapolitan followed, where Dixon opened for bands like The Clash. “The music business was interesting because it allowed you, without a lot of skill, to kind of output your creativity,” remarked Dixon on the parallels between music and making things.
A second motorcycle accident saw him being replaced in the band when it went on tour so Dixon started working in London’s nightclub and warehouse party scene. Fortuitously, it left him time in the day to muck around with recycled and found materials. Dixon would make one-off objects and sell them. One of these would change the course of his life.
Source: CNA
