How a Welsh singer in 1885 used her voice to create stunning geometric art

Aug 14, 2025

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so-called Impression Figure by Margaret Watts Hughes, pigment on glass, date unknown. Courtesy of Cyfarthfa Castle Museum and Art Gallery — photography by Louis Porter.

In 1885, Welsh singer Margaret Watts Hughes discovered that her voice could paint pictures. Singing into her "Eidophone"—a mouthpiece connected to a drum-like rubber membrane — she saw sc…

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