I’m often searching for old footage in my work and I came across these incredible stills of the 1939 New York World Trade Fair. A huge set on the outskirts of New York with a huge outdoor pool was the set for dancers, musicians, swimmers and performers.
 
In some of the footage the performers skate across the stage and change costumes to dive into the pool.
 
The costumes were incredible and the back drop at the fair had obviously all been unquietly hand painted. Thinking about being a set painter for these kind of performances when so much work was created by hand inspired me to want to paint the set and this combination of costumes and place was what made me want to use it as a starting point for this painting.