Pats van Dam was born and raised above a young male offender’s institution in Amsterdam in 1966. After starting her art studies in Rotterdam, Pats van Dam earned money by doing a variety of jobs, including fertilising gherkins, setting up computer systems, hosting in Rotterdam’s harbour side men’s bar to working in restaurants in Greece, picking zucchinis in Australia and extreme hill farming in New Zealand.

Settling in the UK, after extensively travelling through Europe and Asia, Pats van Dam continued her art studies and has gained an MA Fine Art at the Arts University Bournemouth.