This week I was privileged to attend an online lecture from the very knowledgeable Richard Shillitoe in conjunction with The College of Psychic Studies on the symbolistic work of visionary artist Ithell Colquhoun.
Having a fascination
with the art of Tarot and currently attempting to write a Dissertation on the place of the Spiritual in art practice Ithell Colquhoun is a name that I have come across several times in my recent research. Below is an extract from my dissertation notes;
The work of Colquhoun visualises the idea of transformation, although her work went beyond the surrealist call to artists to transform the world to the alchemists’ transformation of matter and the subconscious urge to transform the self.
For Colquhoun intuitive responses had primacy but the source could be external as well as internal. In Scylla we see a surrealist interpretation of the artist’s legs whilst laying in the bath, rearing as rocky pillars from the landscape of the water, identifying herself with the rocks and iterating the close relationship between the female form and Mother Earth and the universal connection between all living beings.
I also see in Scylla an interpretation of the two towers as depicted in the Tarot’s High Priestess and Hierophant. A symbol of duality, passive and aggressive, yin and yang, and of course femininity.
Like Freud and Breton, Colquhoun believed in the power of dreams to access the unconscious mind; indeed, her own dream diaries influenced many of her works, however like Jung she also attributed this inspiration to shared ancestral memories. Messages from a higher source and memories of astral travel were also inspirations for Colquhoun.
Here’s hoping I can tap into my own unconscious inspirations to influence my future practice.
Images;
Ithell Colquhoun 1938 Scylla Oil on board 91.4 × 61 cm
Untitled Oil on Board 42 x 24 cm
