In conversation with Luba Wilson-Max
Hosted by Holly Barton at Beer Rebellion for Deer in Traffic.
So, Luba. What defines your practise and what is it about?
I would say my practise is largely quite introspective, it's mostly about my inner thoughts and inner worlds and identity in that way but less so. It's more about what I'm thinking within different context and what's going in in life and my interpersonal relationships and psyche. I explore a lot of thematically, and I'm interested in psychoanalysis and just based on who I am.
I'm quite a introvert, grew up very shy and spent a lot of time by myself and thinking. So I think that's mainly what comes out in the art. And I focus on the imagination and the creativity and just sort of expressing what I'm feeling in a certain moment. And sometimes I touch on like my identity in terms of my background being mixed race, it's not a major part of my artistic practise but it informs sort of the art works. I sometimes make being in a female body but those are more inadvertent things that just come through in the work. I feel like it's more my internal process and tapping into my subconscious and I'm really interested in interpretation and what other people have to say about the work. I try to keep it fairly ambiguous or at least I think so, I'm always interested in what other people feel and think and get from it without me having to really explain or push in a certain direction. It's hard to describe. Tarot is a massive part of my day to day life and in a way because I'm interested in it, it comes out in the artwork. It also comes out in the artwork in the way of tarot is quite a revealing thing, it's not quite necessarily a look into the future, I try to use it more as an introspective thing, what can I find out about myself and my situation? I feel like that's what I'm trying to do with the artwork, it's sort of like cloud watching. That's the aim of the intention so tarot makes a massive part of it.
What inspires your work?
I would say I feel like its lots of different things, like I said tarot for sure, a lot of things I've read about different spirituality and meditation, that stuff definitely influences my work quite directly. I guess it's just what's going on moving through the world, growing up as a woman is another influence not super directly but definitely because it's about me.
Over the last few years I've definitely looked at female surrealists from the early 20th century, like Leonora Carrington, and Remedios Varo and that group of women who kind of new each other and worked together and weren't interested in being part of surrealism as a bigger form as that's quite a male dominated field and about logic and rational and they were more interested in magic and magical practise and how to sort of uplift women in that time in that way with spiritual means and I think the painting for them was a byproduct of that rather than them wanting to just show paintings. I feel like those are my influences and even still now and the artists I look at now are ones that explore those themes, I'm trying to get it less eurocentric as its pretty white and I'm not a massive fan of that. I'm also interested in film, poetry and books and ambiguous airy fairy literature and horror films and that somewhat makes a part. It's a way to explore things in a very unabashed way as you can get really gory and really disgusting and really visceral with it and it's not so much over like embarrassment of putting yourself out there it gives you an opportunity to be as extreme as you really want to be and that's what I really like – being open and outrageous in my own way.
What is your creative process from concept to creation?
I would say at this point is I try to always a sketchbook on me, because a lot of an imagery that I end up painting is just from my imagination, it's a lot of ideas that have been stewing over time like animals that I'm interested in – I'm really interested in birds, so a lot of things include birds. I feel like I allow it to take its time before I make it into something. If I have an image ill sketch it and then I'll leave it for a long time as I don't want to make a direct replica of what I've just put out. It’s such an intuitive process and there's not much planning, I seem to often get to a point where I get scared about the next steps as I reach a point where I really like it and then I know there can be more. It's hard to know when to stop and hard to know when to keep going and you don't want to ruin something. But then that also allows you to take risks and also I don't believe in anything being finished. I feel like you can always go back to something and add more. That's the sort of mental process. Technically I sort of am really enjoying oils. I've been using really thin layers and I like to build that up and then I rediscovered watercolours over last summer and that sort of has its similar texture and like way of painting. I really like the physical act of painting, it feels like this sort of divine thing, it flows out of you, I think that's what I am always trying to reach but not so unregulated that I start freaking out and ruin something. So I guess at this moment that's the process so far.
What is your next project?
I guess my next project is the degree show this year, I feel like I'm trying to, I didn't make a lot of work at the start of this school year because of dissertation, so now I'm getting back into actually painting. So I guess that's the next deadline project. I mean as I said I've got the exhibition at my work, which is another project. My work is in Finsbury park called the front room cafe. The exhibition is on the 19th of February. It will just be super lowkey, live music and a fun time but it will be nice to show work in my direct community. I've lived in Finsbury park my whole life but I feel like I didn't get to know it until I start this job. I'm like seeing all these neighbours that I've never talked to and now I know them . That's like another thing I'm exploring in the future is like working more collaboratively and working more within communities instead of it being such a solo thing. I'm excited to deal with the challenges of that. I guess it's just graduation show and what the hell I'm doing after i graduate. I'm not super worried but I just know I have to keep making. What will happen will happen.
Luba Wilson-Max's show was on display at Beer Rebellion from the 13th of February 2026 until the 13th of March 2026.
Private view 7pm 13/02/2026
Beer Rebellion, 129 Queen’s Rd, London, SE15 2ND
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