This collection is set in the 1920s Berlin – it has echoes of my ‘Die Kleinen Geister’ collection. Although 25 years separate the stories and the subjects of the paintings, little or nothing had improved for these ladies. In this case, they are cabaret performers and dancers. Their options to earn a living being limited.

The decaying, gilt laden theatres and ornate dancehalls act as precious backdrops - the ultimate fool’s gold.

Inspired by cabaret songs at the time, including the infamous ‘Das Lila Lied’, I have focused on the performers, who would be silently and anonymously present in the work of Christopher Isherwood (Goodbye to Berlin).

The decadence of the time came at a price and was a peculiarly hedonistic, desperate show before the curtain would fall and rise shortly after for the theatre of war.