Delving into the rich traditions of gothic literature, sentimental fiction and old folk tales, Henry Fuseli’s The Nightmare, 1782, appears from another world. But not so, says Miriam Al Jamil, who recognises in the painting an awareness of human psychology foreshadowing that found in modern psycho-analysis, dream theory and psychiatry.
Chantal Thomas’ evocatively layered memoir, Memories of Low Tide, relates the complex, shifting relationship she has with her mother and their mutual love for swimming in the sea.
Reflecting on the life of Camille Claudel through Rodin’s 1884 bronze bust of the artist, Selin Genc considers her own experience of isolation and celebrates her autonomy even in the midst of lockdown.
In this first instalment of her self-conceived series, Life in Languages, Elodie Rose Barnes considers how texts in translation have made an impact on her life and writing, especially during lockdown, and sees the art of translation as a bridge in the era of physical distancing.
Looking at the New Mexico desert, Georgia O’Keeffe found a new home. In the thirteenth Postcard piece, Emily Garbutt considers O’Keeffe’s vivid, evocative painting, Black Mesa Landscape, New Mexico/ Out Back of Marie’s II, 1930, and asks when she will have the opportunity, post-lockdown, to survey a foreign landscape.
Sian Norris reflects on the female gaze as captured in Zinaida Serebriakova’s At the Dressing Table, 1909, and when looking at Dorothea Tanning’s Self-Portrait, 1944, she considers the lack of freedom we have during lockdown.
Saskia Vogel’s beautifully written debut, Permission, is about sex, power, and, yes, BDSM. But it’s also about grief, belonging and the healing that comes from such intimacy, writes our guest editor Elodie Rose Barnes.
Isabel Radford reflects on one of Frida Kahlo’s best known works, Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940, and sees the artist as a source of empowerment for our current times.
Dancer, singer, actress, activist and spy: Josephine Baker took both the stage and lectern by storm, as beautifully and boldly conceived in Catel and Bocquet’s graphic novel. But when it comes to her queer relationships they’re decidedly silent, writes our reviewer Gabriela Frost.
In Otto Dix’s Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden, 1926, Lottie Whalen sees both an insouciant New Woman and Dix’s embodiment of a dangerously dissolute era. Recalling a recent encounter with the painting in Paris, she reflects on the freedoms we stand to lose in the time of Covid-19.
Kathryn Cutler-MacKenzie reflects on the seminal work, The Advantages of Being a Woman Artist, 1988, by Guerrilla Girls, and calls for women in the art world to be more politically engaged and active in their practise.
Kim Sherwood, award-winning author of Testament, talks to Miriam Al Jamil about her debut novel and its origins, her creative process and her exciting second novel.
