Sebastian grew up in eastern Poland in the 1980s and '90s, during a time of political and socio-economic unrest. At the age of seven, he began to create imagery using an ATARI® 130XE™; computer. Because of his dyslexia, visual imagery was his way of understanding the world, with television programmes and films having a huge impact on his creative style.

After studying IT and computers in Warsaw, he moved to London, where he finished his education at Kingston University and became an assistant for Mat Collishaw, a prominent member of the Young British Artists alongside Damien Hirst. At the same time, 3D-printing technology was becoming more popular and affordable, which gave him the freedom to combine his technical knowledge and artistic 3D experience.

His POPek series of balloon dogs initially began as a parody of the contemporary American artist Jeff Koons. This quickly evolved into different poses, including yoga dogs, along with urinating and defecating dogs. The collection hit the headlines in 2012, when the London Underground failed to see the funny side and banned his art from the Art Below exhibition at their underground stations for being 'offensive'.

Unabashedly provocative, Whathisname's fusion of architectural visualisation and themes of childhood, nostalgia and pop culture has created artworks that inspire happiness while exploring our adult psyches. In addition to his POPek dogs, Whatshisname has created the unforgettable Gone series which bring to life a selection of childhood heroes, including Mickey Mouse, Bart Simpson, Winnie-the-Pooh and Buzz Lightyear.

These haunting, shadowed images indicate his interest in the 'dark side', while symbolising a deep-rooted sense of nostalgia. He explains: 'It's showing our childhood heroes reaching out to us with an extended hand and saying: 'Hello, I'm still here, do you remember me?'. Or if those are fading memories, they are saying goodbye.' Whatshisname was inspired to create the Gone series after dreaming about a figure from his childhood. 'They only appeared as a faded silhouette,' he remembers. 'It felt like meeting with an old family member or a good friend who l hadn't see in a very long time. After waking up I could still remember the feeling, but I couldn't remember who the person was, only a shadowy outline which could have been anyone'.

Whatshisname/Sebastian adds: 'I created this series of work to acknowledge the influence of our childhood on our future selves. It's a tribute to a happy childhood and to a feeling of nostalgia. Many of us hold on to something special and meaningful that we grew out of but still remember fondly. The Gone series is exactly that - it's aimed at adults, not kids'.

Whatshishame's work is on permanent display at the Singapore Science Centre, and is shown at art fairs across the globe, from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, New York and London. In 2021, four of his large-scale dogs were on display at Covent Garden; however, his most audacious exhibition took place in 2023, when three sculptures and three prints was sent 30 km space on a special launch vehicle for his Art Above Earth show.

One of the pieces sent up was a sculpture of a breakdancing astronaut, and this piece was expanded into a collection of dancing spaceman sculptures, One Small Step. 'I chose the topic of astronauts because of my ongoing fascination with space and the new discoveries of the James Webb space telescope,' the artist explains.