A former prison inmate finds salvation in art in Huck’s beautiful new film

It’s only been a couple of months since we featured Huck’s short film that tracked down the husband and wife who make the blue plaques for English Heritage. But the magazine has launched another film as part of their Prison Da Vinci series, this time focusing on former inmate Chris Wilson and his very personal journey towards finding creativity, titled Painting with Skittles.

Chris’ last trip to prison ended in 1998 after a total of four separate drug-related sentences. While in prison, he got clean and started seeking solace through less harmful avenues, which eventually led to him to painting. “If you’re denied access to normal things, a human being will find ways and means to make those things,” Chris says.

Self-taught, his energetic artworks are bold and full of feeling. We see him mixing crushed Skittles with toothpaste to create vivid colours and locks of his own hair are used to make brushes in beautifully shot close-ups. But the film, directed by Zach Sebastian, is much more than just an ex-con making homemade paint, it’s about the reinvention that can happen behind bars and how powerful art really can be.