LUBAINA HIMID

A leading figure in the British black arts movement of the 1980s, the Turner Prize-winning artist explores themes of cultural history in her paintings, prints, drawings and installations. For this issue, she has created an original work paying tribute to her mother.

A book you return to

by Bamber Gascoigne, published in 1968. I have owned it since being at art school in 1973 and often look at the sections on the Middle Ages and the Golden Age.’ What inspires you? ‘I am very often inspired by a text – a line from a poem by Essex Hemphill, for instance – but it could just as easily be an article in a French newspaper from 1819 or a political speech.’ Creativity is… ‘the result of years of listening, looking and learning.’

A song that makes you happy ‘“Downtown” by Petula Clark, released in 1964 – it has made me happy ever since I danced around the living-room to it aged 10.’