Laurie Vincent is half of Mercury Prize nominated, punk duo Slaves, he has played the Main Stage at Reading and Leads Festival, toured the world, and has launched an art show in his university town, Rochester.

He and Chatham artist Daisy Parris, who has exhibited in Lisbon, Hamburg and across England, opened their show Feels Like Forever Ago, at Rochester Art Gallery, in High Street, on Thursday, December 13.

The 25-year-olds met at University of Creative Arts eight years ago and both wanted to bring their work back to where their partnership started.

Laurie said: “This is where we’re from, this is our roots.

“I get a bit sick of the favouritism London gets.It’s so expensive for people in Kent to get to London to see art, this is just down the road for them.

“I want people to come down to Rochester and I want to inspire more people to be creative.”

Former Fort Pitt pupil Daisy said: “I still remember on my interview day for UCA, I was walking over with my portfolio from school.

“Kent in general has got a really important art and music scene that’s really influenced me growing up.

“I loved going to Poco Loco, they always had the best bands.”

Laurie who went to Oakwood Park Grammar in Maidstone, added: “I played Tap n Tin when I was 15.”

Though both say their bond is like brother and sister, it was far from it in the UCA days.

Laurie said: “Daisy had her own room, because she was the best painter in our year and she got special treatment. I felt she was a teacher’s pet.”

Their show begins with an older collage of bright multi-coloured cartoons, layering and textures with themes of self-loathing and friction.

Laurie said: “It’s an explosion of energy, the layers and textures play on how society now sees everything on a screen on social media.”

There is a clear difference between this and their newer block coloured, abstract paintings, which they created in three days when Laurie was home from Slaves’ global tour.

Daisy said: “We were trying to create the illusion of one hand and that takes a lot of planning.

“But working together inspires us to take more risks with painting.

“If I mess it up, I know Laurie will fix it.”

Laurie added: “I’ve always felt really passionately that art can have a deeper meaning or just be a pretty picture.

“There aren’t many people our age doing accessible art shows and that’s what I want this to be.”

Daisy said: “People need to take their time, if you want to take a picture of our work please do, go home and look at it again.”

n The show is on until Saturday, February 23 at Rochester Art Gallery in the visitors’ information centre in, High Street, Rochester.