In episode 176 of the Magick & Alchemy podcast, hosts Kristin Lisenby and Kate Belew explore the creative lives of Ithell Colquhoun and Lucille Clifton. Colquhoun was an artist and author who combined surrealism with her interest in bodily landscapes, gender fluidity, ecology, mythology, transient states, and erotic alchemy. Both Colquhoun and Clifton believed their artistic practices were forms of divination and ways to connect with the spirit world. Clifton engaged with Ouija and ‘spirit writing’ to inspire her poetry, which focused on history, the African American experience, Blackness, and the Black body. She believed that the purpose of poetry and art was not to reveal answers but to ask questions.

Sources & Shoutouts:

“Ithell Colquhoun: A queer, occultist artist who created between worlds,” Isabella Greenwood

“A Diagram of Desire, Androgyny, Queer Eroticism, and the Occult Visions of Ithell Colquhoun,” Isabella Greenwood

First Look: Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds

Dawn Ades, ‘Notes on Two Women Surrealist Painters: Eileen Agar and Ithell Colquhoun’, Women in Art 3, no. 1 (1980)

Scylla (1938)

Alchemical Figure: Androgyne (1941)

Diagrams of Love (1940)

About Lucille Clifton - Poets.org

"Won’t You Celebrate With Me," Lucille Clifton

“Spirit Writing, Body Problems: Lucille Clifton’s Faith”

“The Spirit Writing of Lucille Clifton,” Marina Magloire

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