Communicating Vessels.
In 2020 Hayley Theyers, Kate Rampling and myself decided to work on a collective project inspired by the life and work of Ithell Colquhoun.
I first came across Ithell Colquhoun while exploring the life of my Grandfather Robert MacGregor-Reid and his part in leading the Druid Order of which Ithell was an active member and friend of Robert. I was immediately struck by what an interesting, intelligent and spiritually commited person she was. Her body of work is so expansive that you can delve into any part of it and come out with inspiration, but I was most captivated by her series of hermetic colour theory paintings expressed as a tarot deck.
Tarot decks are traditionally figurative and loaded with symbolism, but Ithells paintings are purely created from swirling colour and form. I wanted to see if I could take Ithell’s sublime colour, retain it’s simplicity and power, while overlaying it on my own figurative practice.
The Magus Of Power (Gate of Ivory) (2020)
The Daughter of the Firmament, The Dweller Between the Waters (Restive Gatherer) (2020)
The Magus of Power (Numinous Tooth) (2020)
The Daughter of the Firmament, The Dweller Between the Waters (Foam of Ocean’s Tongue) (2020)
The Magus Of Power (Splendidior Vitro) (2020)
The Daughter of the Firmament, The Dweller Between the Waters (Latent Seal) (2020)
The Princess of the Echoing Hills. The Rose of the Palace of Earth (Nature’s Equilibrium) (2020)
The Magus Of Power (Gate of Horn) (2020)
The Princess of the Echoing Hills. The Rose of the Palace of Earth (Vesta Triumphant) (2020)
Communicating Vessels book & exhibtion.
We exhibited our work for a second time in 2021 at Photospace Gallery in Wellington, New Zealand. To coincide with the opening of the exhibition we published a book which showcased our work, our writing on Colquhoun and the images we had created, along with an introduction by Ithell Colquhoun biographer Amy Hale. It is a limited edition publication which you can purchase in my shop.
