Rikki lives in Brighton. “I’m dying to move to Lewes,” he says. “It’s more like a Spanish town than any other place I know in England.” He is no stranger to the place, having rehearsed and directed the recent performance of ‘The Caretaker’ in the Phoenix industrial estate and the All Saints. Rikki’s an eclectic type - as well as being an artist he is a film-maker, theatre director and drama teacher, and was the Director of Performance at the Eden project. A man for all seasons? He doesn’t think his different metiers clash. “I’m interested in exploring visual literacy, which is one reason I’ve returned to abstract art. I want to be blend a lot more fine art into my film making: the whole medium is becoming more subtle and complex because visual literacy, which used to be a bit out on the edge, is becoming more mainstream.”

Which isn’t a word you’d use for his abstract art, hanging on the walls of Laporte’s. “I like abstract art because it reminds me of the sort of improvisation techniques you hear in jazz,” he says. Surely he can’t be a musician as well? “Well I used to play the drums a bit,” he says. “I was…” At this point our conversation is interrupted by a fellow keen to buy one of the canvases, only five minutes on the wall, and I never do learn the details. AL