Inge Beckmann's dance of darkness ennobles spaces

The singer-songwriter and actor talks about the art forms and artists who inspire her moody work

- By Mick Raubenheimer

The InArt interviews explore culture by asking creatives about their life in the arts, and which artists in other media stimulate them. We spoke to acclaimed singer-songwriter and actor Inge Beckmann about dancing in the dark and quiet beauty.

When did you first identify as an artist?

From an early age, I recall wanting to ennoble spaces. I would decorate my bedroom, rearrange the furniture, pick flowers and create these avant-garde arrangements. When I entered a Victorian house converted into a business or a restaurant, I'd place both hands on the walls and ask if it was content in its current role. I knew when a house was a sick house, an unhappy house.

Sometimes I'd try to locate the heart of the house and just sit with it. I had a radar for dead corners and yucky ornaments that needed to be thrown out, or overlooked objects begging to be appreciated anew. Items on the floor wanted to be displayed on the mantelpiece in a dignified manner. I was attuned to the pride of inanimate objects.

When I became an adult, I called this habit "room rehab". When I faced unpleasant surroundings — dirty streets or sterile shopping centres - I challenged myself to find beauty in the interplay of colour, texture, light and shade.

I spent a lot of time in the kitchen as a child. It is still a creative sanctuary to this day. I loved cooking for my family as a tween, designing the menu, setting the table and creating the mood. Sometimes I would put on a show, too - bang out something weird on the piano. At nine, I was a mermaid fashion designer.

To answer you, it's been a primal, lifelong instinct.

Outside your medium, which branch of art most stimulates you?