Joe Whale was told to stop doodling.

He didn't. At nine years old, his drawings covered a restaurant wall in Shrewsbury, UK and sparked global attention. What followed (gallery exhibitions, a Royal commission, collaborations with Nike and Disney, a nationwide partnership with M&S) could have been the whole story. It wasn't. Now sixteen and based in Adelaide, Joe is evolving from the boy who drew on walls into a contemporary artist whose work expands in scale, ambition and meaning.

The Doodle Boy brought Joe to the world's attention, but the philosophy behind it is what drives him forward. Joe believes imagination is a muscle, not a gift. That creativity isn't something you grow out of but something you grow into. And that the most interesting thing about any piece of work isn't what you can see. It's where it came from. His art is an argument for this idea, made visible.