Creative Connections
Inspiration is a tricky thing. Some of us have it in abundance, others seem to lack it entirely. Inspiration has a myriad of synonyms, ranging from the active motivation to do something, to the more passive concept of being influenced. Artists, some might say, are the most inspired and inspiring of all.
I often lack inspiration, and when that happens, I turn to artists. Here at Squarely, we hand-pick the most inspiring up and coming artists in Bristol to feature in Creative Connections, and I’m deeply inspired by the two artists we have featured in this issue: I hope you are too.
Annie Hughes
I first encountered Annie’s work at an exhibition in Spike Island. I was initially struck by how playfully executed these satirised stereotypical women were. Annie’s mum stars as the muse and model in her projects, acting out different roles that have dominated Hollywood narratives since its inception. Annie shared who and what inspires her below.
“I’m mostly inspired by the way I see women represented in the media, but more in a way that it enrages me to see how women are objectified and forced to exist as stereotypes. I’m really inspired by the work of artists like Cindy Sherman, Nadia Lee Cohen, and Jaimie Warren; I find inspiration in work that challenges and subverts the male gaze. I began working with film tropes when I was at university, and this progressed more and more throughout my masters. My work is really influenced by feminist theory, and so I began to research more deeply into these tropes. I think what drew me most to The Femme Fatale and The Damsel in Distress tropes was that both had significant historical roots; there are versions of The Femme Fatale dating back to Biblical times, and early versions of the Damsel in Distress were popular in medieval fiction. Seeing how long these ideas of women had been circulating in our culture and how they have real-life consequences for the way women and girls are viewed really inspired me to make something that subverted that.”
Check out more of Annie’s work here.
Sage Burning
Sage Burning is a local drag act, who by day works on our Property Development team as their day-to-day self, Charlotte. Since Sage’s debut in 2023, they have performed at some of Bristol’s most iconic queer venues and have firmly established themselves as one of the hottest and spookiest drag acts in town.
I asked Sage what brought them to drag and of course, what inspires them.
“I’ve found it hard to define a single inspiration for my drag and why I do it, because there are so many wonderful creatives in the scene who make the community the flourishing place that it is. I love drag because it’s an exploration of a masculine and more humorous part of me I hadn’t looked into before. I can create a number about anything I care about, and be as serious and or as silly as I want to be, and that can be really freeing. For example, I’ve told a story on stage of a cowboy alien coming to earth to find love, only to fall in love with his horse, just because it seemed like a funny thing to do. I don’t think any other medium can let you quite capture what only you can bring to the stage in the way drag does.
The biggest thing I can say for the Bristol drag scene is that everyone inspires each other to keep improving their artistry. I could list off countless names of performers that inspire me every single time I see them perform, of those that made me want to start drag in the first place, and those who make me want to put together a silly act and get on stage and express myself. I am inspired by drag artists creating outside the norm of social expectation, and I hope that when I get up on stage I am inspiring others to be a little bit more weird too.”
Keep up with Sage’s upcoming performances here.
If you know of local artistic talent that deserves to be featured, get in touch at editorial@thesquareclub.com.
