Editing Ithell Colquhoun (section)

==Art==
Though only formally involved with the Surrealist movement in England for a few years, Colquhoun first gained her reputation as a surrealist, and identified as a surrealist for the rest of her life.{{sfn|Hale|2012|pp=307&ndash;308}} She used many [[surrealist automatism|automatic]] techniques,<ref name=ODNB/> which were described in [[André Breton]]'s first [[Surrealist Manifesto|surrealist manifesto]] as a defining feature of surrealism,{{sfn|Hale|2012|p=310}} and invented several herself.<ref name=ODNB/>

Colquhoun began to experiment with automatic techniques in 1939,<ref>{{cite book|title=Unsettling Landscapes: The Art of the Eerie|last1=Macfarlane|last2=Marshall|last3=Clarke|first1=Robert|first2=Steve|first3=Gill|page=80}}</ref> and used a wide range of materials and methods, such as [[decalcomania]], [[fumage]], [[frottage (art)|frottage]] and [[collage]]. She developed new techniques such as superautomatism, stillomancy, [[Surrealist techniques#Parsemage|parsemage]], and [[Surrealist techniques#Entopic graphomania|entopic graphomania]], writing about them in her article "The Mantic Stain".<ref name="ODNB" /> Automatism continued to be an important part of Colquhoun's artistic practice for the rest of her life,{{sfn|Hale|2020|p=47}} and following her split from the British surrealist movement it also became a key part of her spiritual activities.{{sfn|Hale|2020|p=79}} In 1948 she demonstrated automatic techniques on British television, on a BBC programme called ''The Eye of the Artist'', and in 1951 she published another article, "Children of the Mantic Stain".{{sfn|Hale|2020|p=80}}

Colquhoun had an early interest in [[biology]], and studies of plants and flowers were a recurring theme in her art throughout her life. Many of her early notebooks contained very detailed drawings of plants,{{sfn|Hale|2012|p=308}} and her early works included a series of enlarged images of flora, occupying the full canvas and painted almost photographically.<ref name=ODNB/>

Colquhoun's work often explored themes of sex and [[gender]].{{sfn|Hale|2012|p=313}} Her early work often depicts powerful women from myth and Bible stories, such as ''Judith Showing the Head of Holofernes'' 1929, and ''Susanna and the Elders'' 1930 &ndash; both of which are likely homages to [[Artemisia Gentileschi]]'s works on the same themes.{{sfn|Hale|2012|p=312}} Dawn Ades sees Colquhoun's treatment of gender as responding to the masculine and [[patriarchal]] themes in the art of other surrealists &ndash; for instance, where they drew landscapes as women's bodies. Colquhoun's ''Gouffres Amers'' 1939 shows a male body as a landscape.{{sfn|Ades|1980|p=40}} Several of her works explore themes of [[castration]] and male impotence, including ''Gouffres Amers'' and ''The Pine Family'', while she portrays female sexuality much more positively, such as in ''Scylla''.{{sfn|Hale|2020|p=61}}  She was also deeply interested in [[androgyny]],{{sfn|Ferentinou|2011|p=9}} particularly in the early 1940s,{{sfn|Hale|2020|p=188}} and produced several works on the theme.{{sfn|Ferentinou|2011|p=10}}

Stylistically, some her works have been described as "[[macabre]]" and "sinister".<ref>{{Cite book|title=Portrait of the Artist: Artists' Portraits published by 'Art News & Review' 1949–1960|publisher=The Tate Gallery|year=1989|location=London|page=85}}</ref> In 1939, she created the work ''Tepid Waters (Rivières Tièdes)'' which was displayed at her solo exhibition at the Mayor Gallery the same year. The painting, based on a church in [[Corsica]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Rivières Tièdes (Mediterranée)|publisher=Southampton City Art Gallery|access-date=29 June 2022|url=https://southamptoncityartgallery.com/object/sotag-197746/}}</ref> may allude to the [[Spanish Civil War]].<ref name=ODNB/>

In the 1940s, Colquhoun began to create works exploring the themes of [[consciousness]] and the [[subconscious]].<ref name=ODNB/> Her interest in [[psychology]] and [[dream]]s also attached her to the Surrealist movement. Three works which stand out during the 1940s are ''The Pine Family'', which deals with dismemberment and [[castration]], ''A Visitation'' which shows a flat heart-shape with multi-coloured beams of light and ''Dreaming Leaps'', an homage to Sonia Araquistain, the 24-year-old daughter of the ambassador of the ex-[[Second Spanish Republic]] in London who committed suicide by jumping nude from the top of a building.<ref name=ODNB />

Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Colquhoun turned her attention towards [[collage]]s rather than painting. The last retrospective of her work was held at the Newlyn Orion Gallery in 1976, which showed a large number of collages, many of which were inspired by those of [[Kurt Schwitters]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Ithell Colquhoun: Pioneer Surrealist Artist, Occulist, Writer, and Poet|last=Ratcliffe|first=Eric|publisher=Madrake of Oxford|year=2007|location=Oxford|page=177}}</ref>