Influences and Motivations in the Work of Grayson PerryGrayson Perry was born in Chelmsford in 1960. He is a Turner Prize-winning artist specializing primarily in highly decorated ceramic vases and tapestries with colorful and brilliant signs. (Perry, 2016) Perry's early family life was difficult and he was only 7 years old when his parents separated. Perry has always described his father's departure as the event that had the greatest impact on him throughout his life. (Jones, 2006) Perry became interested early in drawing and building model airplanes, which offered him an escape from his difficult home life and abusive stepfather. Following the encouragement of his art teacher, Perry made the “fateful decision” to study art. (Jones, 2006)He completed an art foundation course at Braintree College in 1979, before studying for a degree in fine arts at Portsmouth Polytechnic, where he graduated in 1982. The following year, Perry began taking ceramics lessons, creating enamelled plates with text that drew on their own, often sexual, experiences. His first ceramic exhibition was held in London in December 1983. In 2002, Perry had a major solo exhibition in Amsterdam. A year later he was awarded the Turner Prize and was praised for his "uncompromising commitment to personal and social concerns". (Tate, 2003) Since then, Perry has curated major exhibitions, written books and been involved in TV and other media, while continuing his work in ceramics. Perry incorporates "traditions" such as Greek pottery and folk art into his work. He said: “I like the whole iconography of the ceramics. It has no great claim to being a great public work of art, and no matter how brazen a statement I make... it will always have a certain humility... middle of paper... system. [online] Available at http://www.telegraph.co.uk Accessed 17 May 2016.Perry, G (2014). Playing arcade. London: Penguin Books Ltd. Miro, V (2016). Review: Exhibitions of Grayson Perry's work [online] Available at: http://www.victoria-miro.com Accessed 30 May 2016. The Guardian. Wilson, B. (2016). Art and Design: Sketchbooks by Grayson Perry. Review – “Silly Notions That Became Art” [online] Available at: http://www.theguardian.com Accessed June 2, 2016. The influence Perry took from William Hogarth and religious paintings is an effort to contextualize his work. Understanding where Perry draws his influence makes the work that much richer and more evaluable to do so. In my practice, I am just becoming aware of how important it is to seek out and allow myself and my work to be influenced by other artists.