An urban street performer is selling her artwork for thousands of pounds which she creates by covering herself in paint – and BREAKDANCING on canvas.
Talented Hanifa McQueen-Hudson, 43, aka B-girl Bubbles, produces the striking pieces of art by pulling jackhammers, windmills and kick-outs at her studio in Wolverhampton.
She submerges her feet and legs in colourful paint before putting on hip-hop music and using her body as a paintbrush as she spins across a plain white canvas.
Hanifa – who shot to fame in the 1980s as Brtain’s first female breakdancer – has now completed over a dozen pieces and has sold her first three to anonymous bidders for up to #5,000.
Yesterday (Tue) the mum-of-two said: “I mainly make pieces using different spins, with my feet or my back or even my head.
“I start not knowing what it is going to be and I just go with the flow and the expression of the dance.
“Then it might start to look like something like a sunset or a river or a mountain and I will work with that.
“The art flows through my body and the music and it eventually takes shape.
“It’s a very fun way to paint.
“I’ve sold three so far and the most somebody has paid to date is #5,000.”
Hanifa shot to fame in the 80s when she became part of dance troupe ‘The B Boys’ and starred in Britain’s first breakdancing music video ‘Electro Rock’.
The group were sponsored by firms including Adidas and Puma and took the performing world by storm until the hip dance style died out in the early 1990s.
But it wasn’t until 2006 that she stumbled across her unusual painting talent when she scuffed a friend’s floor with the black soles of her trainers.
And inspired by her young son coming home from nursery with hand and foot prints, the former professional breakdancer decided to see if the moves worked on canvas.
Hanifa, who lives with her young son and daughter in Wolverhampton, added: “I went to the studio of a graffiti artist called Temper and while we were messing around I scuffed the floor with the soles of my trainers while I showed him some of my moves.
“It made a pattern on the floor which looked pretty cool and at the time my son was always coming home from nursery with hand prints and foot prints and I wondered what it would look like.
“So I just tried it and showed my friends and they loved it.
“I call it Artbreaker or b-boying on canvas – b-boying being the original name for breakdancing.
“I used to be a graffiti artist when I was younger and I am familiar with paint, so it just comes to me naturally.”