Q & A with Bethan Lumb (Illustrator for Loom)

We caught up with Bethan Lumb to chat about her approach to creating the visuals for the live performance of Loom ahead of designing the release artwork...

What made you want to be part of "Loom"?

Loom sounded like a really exciting, and innovative project to get involved with. I was particularly drawn by the narrative of the water course, and how this could be brought to life in a visual and audio experience. It's exciting to see the project challenging the traditional performance space and engaging the audience in an immersive and dynamic way.

What were the challenges of the brief?

Capturing the energy, movement and narrative of the music, whilst also portraying my response to the piece as a whole. Also, drawing at the pace of the music.

Does responding to an aural stimulus change the way you work?

Having no visual reference allowed me a more abstract approach, listening more to pick up the intricacies in the percussion, or working bolder and more expressively in other sections of the piece. It also allowed a more emotive response to the piece as a whole.

What do you hope people will get out your images?

I wanted the images to reflect the movement, sense of journey and landscape in the piece - not to distract from the music, but to allow people to immerse themselves fully into the performance and let their imagination run free.

You can check out more of Bethan's fantastic work here at bethanlumb.co.uk