Have you experienced “eusexua”? That is the sensation FKA Twigs is striving to evoke in The Eleven, a performance art show she debuted at Sotheby’s in September 2024. It marks the English singer, actress, and dancer’s first foray into the fine art world.
The Eleven is named after the 11 pillars in her life: intake, truth, primal revelation (nature), shaping (environment), eusexua body (movement), minestate (self–awareness), opus (self–expression), looping (artistic creation), keychain (company), crone (relationship to technology), and the art of sol (simplicity). Along with a group of 11 performers, Twigs embodies each element for 11 minutes through visual art, somatic movement, and atmospheric sounds.
At the core of The Eleven is the concept of EUSEXUA—“It's that feeling of when you’ve been dancing all night, and you lose seven hours to music .… Eusexua is the thing that makes me feel alive, a moment of pure clarity when everything moves out of the way, everything in your mind is completely blank, and your mind is elevated,” Twigs said.
Through the exhibit, Twigs guides both herself and the audience toward reaching this state. Her use of ritualistic elements, such as mantras and symbolic imagery, turns The Eleven into a shared, almost sacred experience. In that way, she leads her audience to transcend the physicality of the space and immerse themselves in their movements, emotions, and spirits.
Described as a “physical and artistic quest for self–healing,” The Eleven is where Twigs transforms vulnerability into a source of strength. The exhibit space features her dance videos, intimate photographs, and installations—all converging to form her healing process. From swaying motions drained of energy to diary–like texts like, “My body is the same body I was in before anything happened to it,” the works are raw, often uncomfortably so. Twigs has always been open about her struggles: fibroid surgery, public scrutiny, abusive relationships, and resultant legal battles. She sublimates such intimate parts of her life into a series of movements, inviting the audience to confront their own pain and heal with her. And this theme undoubtedly resonates throughout her earlier works. The Eleven is introspective, intimate, and, most importantly, unmistakably FKA Twigs.
Moreover, The Eleven places Twigs as a contemporary artist who pushes artistic boundaries. She brings the same multidisciplinary vision into the gallery setting as she does in her music studio. By performing The Eleven in well–established spaces like Sotheby’s—where a work of this kind had never been shown in its 280–year history—she subverts the expectations of both the gallery and auction house. In her interview with Dazed, she admits that people may find the performance strange or abstract; nevertheless, she wants the audience to rethink what constitutes art.
I watched the livestream of The Eleven, and even through a screen, her energy was palpable. Every move seemed intentional, not for the sake of choreography but as a form of expression connected to her personal experiences. At the same time, it felt as though she was permitting herself to move beyond structures.
It is never easy to make something look meticulously crafted while still feeling organic. It struck me how she allowed her audience to interact with her struggles directly. There was no attempt to perfect the performance beyond what it needed to be. It drew me into the emotional weight of her work, and I loved that feeling of intimacy.
Art, in all its forms, has the power to heal, challenge, and transform. In The Eleven, FKA Twigs does all three. Now, are you ready to experience eusexua?
