Back in 1841, the invention of tubes of paint allowed artists to go into the landscape and work in nature. Liberated from their studio, painters could take their materials and set up on a windswept mountain maybe, or by the sea. These small metal tubes revolutionised what art looked like, by allowing artists to make work outside.

Trouble is, I want to go inside. Specifically, into a nightclub or music venue. After several years making work about immersion (in water, in flow states, in a sculptural installation…) I’ve recently been exploring the immersive musical experience. The rhythmic bounce of a dancefloor, the reverberation of percussive beats through your bones, the magic of collective euphoria. How to capture that in paint?

So what better place to start than painting those sensations in a live context… But dancefloors full of sweaty bodies and bassy beats aren’t the easiest place to manage paintpots and paper. So I’m massively grateful to Mr Bruce and The Jam Jar in Bristol for allowing me to set up backstage. While Mr Bruce whirled on stage, I was in the wings, stage left, marking the action as it happened. The sheer power of the performance, the raw passion, the flow of energy from the stage to the floor and back again - all of it went down onto the paper. Like those artists painting out in the nature for the first time, I was fully absorbed in the scene as I painted, immersed in its wild energy.

Feels like I’ve just started pulling on a long thread with this one, so expect more to come!

Drawing Mr Bruce

On stage with HUX

Female artist