I was a libertine, a feminist and a real go-getter from a young age The way I was brought up made me feel like I could do anything. Everything just felt extremely positive; the sky was the limit.
I didn't know what normality was While being that go-getter, at the same time I felt very insecure as a child. I had no template for what normal was. It took me a long time to feel calm and settled. I do now.
The art world is like a field of mushrooms springing up from the ground Underground, it's full of sensitive, interesting people and there are all these sprouts connecting and networking. It makes me excited just to think of it.
My response to feeling demoralised, or not knowing what to do with life, is to be celebratory About what? About everything!
Award nominations matter After being nominated for the Turner Prize in 2012, I became more robust. My work had been really intimate and informal beforehand, but now I was communicating to a wider audience. It took a while to adjust. At first I thought the media circus was repulsive. But who can complain about getting attention?
I wasn't born 'Marvin Gaye' I was born Alalia Chetwynd, but I became Spartacus in 2006 because I was a real fan of the story of Spartacus, and I felt I needed a nom de plume. I'm Marvin Gaye now because I was so taken by his life. His dad was this disciplinarian preacher but also a cross-dresser who ended up killing his son. Naming myself after him is a private reminder to myself to protect all the good I have in my life: my family.
Marvin Gaye Chetwynd has just completed 'The Idol', a sculpture and permanent soft-play centre commissioned by Create in partnership with Barking and Dagenham Council.
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