Women Artists and the Spirit World

The moment I saw the book, The Other Side: A Story of Women in Art and the Spirit World by Jennifer Higgie, I wanted to devour it immediately.

My great-grandmother was a documented psychic, and my own journey started at age 14 with my discoveries of Kahlil Gibran, Madame Blavatsky, and Edgar Cayce, before later moving on to the wisdom of Abraham-Hicks. Although I have been on the journey toward weaving together the Divine Feminine and the sacred aspects of art for decades, oddly I had never heard of Hilma af Klint, mentioned often in this book, until just five or six years ago. When I explored her art and life, I was stunned to find that some of her works depicted images similar to visions I experienced during meditation, and which I had also translated into artworks. It sent chills up my spine as it seemed that we had both peeked through the same doorway to non-ordinary reality. That made me want to find out more.

The Other Side is an ambitious and engaging mix of erudite dedication, masterful communication and deep introspection peppered with myth and humor. Especially for other female artists who are seeking spiritual connections in art, it is a godsend, or perhaps I should say goddess-send. The stories of the journeys of others offer a deeply meaningful confirmaton those of use who have wondered with a mix of apprehension and desire, "Am I the only one?"

It turns out, there is a whole community!

The publication is in excellent timing, coming as it does, perched on the precipice of signs heralding the end of toxic patriarchy as we continue to exit Covid's "Crucible of Change", which seems to have launched humanity up the evolutionary spiral. At least, it looks that way to those who can read the signs. And thank Goddess for that!

I was happy to interview the author, Jennifer Higgie, an Australian novelist, screenwriter, art critic and curator living in England. In addition to The Other Side, A Story of Women, Art and the Spirit World, she has also authored The Mirror and the Palette: Revolution, Resistance and Rebellion, 500 Years of Women's Self-Portraits, which I am looking forward to reading next!

Meryl Ann Butler: Thanks for your time, Jennifer! First I want to thank you for writing The Other Side, it is a spectacular read, I loved it, and learning about some of these artists felt like having a missing puzzle piece of my soul finally put into place.

Please share with us a couple of your favorite pieces of art that you mention in the book, and why they are meaningful to you.

Jennifer Higgie: Thank you so much, Meryl Ann! I love all of the art made by the women I mention, but one of my favourite works across the centuries is Illumination from Hildegard of Bingen's Scivias (1151) showing her receiving a vision and dictating to her teacher, Volmar.

Hildegard was an extraordinary 12th century nun, the earliest named composer in history, artist, healer and herbalist. When I was at art school in the 1980s, my mother gave me a CD of her celestial music and I have found deep solace in it ever since.

MAB: I have several of her recordings, too, and I love to listen to them while creating art, especially those by the Anonymous Four.

JH: Another body of work that has been important to me is The Ten Largest (1907) by the visionary Swedi artist Hilma af Klint. I have rarely been as astonished by an exhibition as when I visited her major exhibition at the Moderna Museet in Stockholm in 2013. It was the beginning of my deep dive into women, art and spirituality.

MAB: Wow, you are lucky to have seen an exhibition of her work--I certainly hope to one day!

You included the surrealist Leonora Carrington (1917-2011) in your book, and synchronously, one of her paintings just sold last week at Sotheby's in New York for an unexpected $24.5 million. Her previous auction high was $3.3 million set two years ago.

The winning bidder was founder of the Museum of Latin American Art in Buenos Aires, Argentinian Eduardo F. Costantini. In 1995 he had been outbid on this very same painting when the winning bid was $475,500 (about a million dollars today). Apparently he was determined not to be outbid again!

Of course I have mixed feelings about these exorbitant auction prices, but still, I note that due to this sale, more people now know about Carrington than they did two weeks ago, and I'm glad about that. And maybe this is an indication that the world is developing more appreciation and respect for women artists.

So, Jennifer, what do you feel was your greatest personal and/or spiritual benefit from writing and researching the book?

JH: Discovering what so many of these women achieved at a time when they had no political agency was inspiring and humbling in equal measure. They have given me permission, of sorts, to be more curious and open-minded; to see the world as a place of infinite and often magical possibility.

MAB: I love that! So many of the women in your book are great examples, but especially Pamela Colman Smith, the illustrator of the most famous tarot deck in the world, commonly called the Rider-Waite deck. I had been well aware of this deck for 50 years before discovering that the inspired images were created by a woman! Thankfully, in recent years it has often been referred to as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck.

What do you hope your readers take away from reading your book?

JH: I hope they are as inspired and intrigued as I am by the stories of these women.

MAB: Well I certainly was! Is there anything you'd like to mention as we wrap up?

JH: It's so important to remember that art history is a work in progress. Ultimately it's the story of human achievement in all its messy glory.

MAB: It is indeed, thanks for that thought, and for visiting with OpEdNews today!

Jennifer Higgie's website.

The Other Side is published in the UK by Weidenfeld & Nicolson: buy here;

in Australia by Hachette: buy here;

in the USA by Pegasus Books: buy here.