November 2023

Over the past six months I’ve been doing a lot of travelling. I was in Australia for three months, staying with family, seeing friends, writing, editing The Annual for the National Gallery of Australia and (big news!) recording a new podcast series.

I loved curating the exhibition ‘Thin Skin’, which included paintings by 36 Australian and international painters, for MUMA in Melbourne. The team there are so generous and I was very grateful to artists and lenders for trusting me with their work. I’m proud of the book we produced, which includes an essay I wrote titled ‘A Nervous Canvas: 64 Thoughts on Thin Skin’ and a beautiful short story inspired by the paintings in the exhibition by my friend the Mexican novelist, Chloe Aridjis. Anna Dickie at Ocula generously interviewed about my writing and the exhibition, which you can read here. Another thrill when I was in Australia was this rare gem of a review of The Other Side by the novelist Stephanie Bishop.

I also did a few talks while I was in Australia and appreciated the support of the Sheila Foundation for women in the arts. I was honoured to deliver the Kate Daw Memorial Lecture at my old art school, the Victoria College of the Arts in Melbourne.

I returned to London for a few days in early August and then travelled to Salzburg to teach writing at the Salzburg Summer Academy. It was founded by the painter Oskar Kokoschka in 1953 and takes place in the medieval castle overlooking the city. I had 18 students from 11 countries and, while our days were intense (and the heatwave didn’t help), the whole experience was a privilege. I always begin teaching with the Thomas Mann quote: ‘A writer is someone for whom writing is more difficult than other people.’

Speaking of teaching, I’m conducting a writing course in England titled ‘The Imaginative Flourish’, at the midst of the Devon countryside at the magical Dartington College from 26-28 January 2024.

Since returning to London, it’s been back-to-back writing on artists including Jennifer Binnie, Nadine Christensen, Tracey Emin, Tamara Henderson, Hans Josephsohn, Ewa Juszkiewicz, Sofia Mitsola, Bruno Pacheco, Rose Wylie, Madame Yevonde and others. I’ve also been doing a lot of talks, promoting The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World.

As we head into winter, my thoughts have been turning to weaving. I have a yearn to learn something new …

May 2023

It’s been a very busy few months since The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World was released in the UK and Australia in February. (It’s out in the USA with Pegasus later this year / early 2024: watch this space!) After the joyful launch at one of my favourite bookshops, Foyles on Charing Cross Road – where the wonderful Louisa Buck interviewed me – I’ve done numerous talks and interviews in person, online and on the radio. I have been so moved by the interest shown, and to every reader who has sent me a message – know that it means the world to me.

One of the joys of being a freelance writer is the invitations I receive to write about artists I’ve long admired, for institutions I respect. I had the great privilege of zoom meeting the legendary Judy Chicago and writing a long essay for ‘HerStory’, her New Museum retrospective in New York, which opens in October 2023. I asked Chicago what kind of connection she felt with women artists of the past. She replied, ‘Hilma af Klint and Agnes Pelton’s use of color is very akin to mine—high-key, thin, washed, the fusion of color and surface. It’s not a material object; it’s like a spiritual form, and I wanted to achieve that.’ As for what the word ‘spiritual’ means to her, ‘It’s a reverence for life’ and an acknowledgment of ‘the miracle of life.’ Here’s to that.

My brain has been stretched in all directions these past six months. I’ve just finished writing on ‘Altered States’ for the catalogue of Wayne McGregor’s 17th International Festival of Contemporary Dance (13 – 29 July) for Venice Biennale Danza and I’ve loved learning-through-writing about emerging artists, such as Anika Roach at Corvi-Mora, London, and the writer-turned-artist Anne Laure Zevi, whose solo show at Indipendenza in Rome and Adelaide Cioni at Mimosa in London were highlights. For a complete list of everything I’ve written lately, see ‘Articles & Reviews’ and ‘Books & Publications’.

I’m writing this in Australia; as much as I love London, I’m always happy to fly south. I’m here for a few months seeing family, working on the second issue of the National Gallery of Australia’s publication The Annual and hanging the exhibition ‘Thin Skin’, which I curated for the Monash Museum of Art (MUMA) in Melbourne: it comprises 36 paintings by Australian and international artists and includes an incredible soundscape by my brilliantly talented sister, Suzie Higgie. (I dedicated The Other Side to her, and her music also introduces my podcast, Bow Down.) I cannot wait to see the energies and conversations they generate once they’re together. I’m also working on a proposal for a new book and a script. (I can’t say at this stage what they are, as I’ll hex them.) One word springs to mind: onwards!

December 2022

As the nights have been drawing in, the last few months have been taken up with finalising the edits on The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World, which is published 2 February in the UK. You can pre-order it here and if you do, please know that I am enormously grateful for your support. I also recorded the audio book for Audible, so if you’d like to have me read it to you, you can! As well as doing various talks (see my talks page for details), I’ve also written monographs on some brilliant artists: Anna Higgins’ ‘A Place Beyond Heaven’, at ReadingRoom, Melbourne; ‘Only Connect’, an essay for a forthcoming monograph on the work of Ruby Sky Stiler, published by the Tang Teaching Museum at Skidmore College; ‘Love of Place: The paintings of Caroline Coon’, for Stephen Friedman Gallery, on the occasion of Coon’s first solo exhibition with the gallery, October 2022; and ‘Some Other Kind of Place’, Terry Winters’ new paintings for Stuart Shave, Modern Art, on the occasion of Winters first exhibition with the gallery, October 2022. I’ve also been working hard on a script with an old friend, but it’s still under wraps – for now! Also, the artist list for the exhibition 'Thin Skin' I'm curating for MUMA in Melbourne which opens in July, is almost finalised. Watch this space. 

October 2022

It’s been a rich, if hectic, few months of juggling: writing, editing and curating. I’ve been working on edits and proofs of my forthcoming book The Other Side: A Journey into Women, Art and the Spirit World, which is out in February. It’s part memoir of leaving frieze, looking for re-enchantment and finding solace in Greece; part art history, and part an exploration of various esoteric worlds – I’ve never written anything like it and am nervous and excited in equal measure about its release. Alongside my book, it’s been a joy to be doing lots of work in Australia. I’m curating an exhibition of contemporary and historical painting for MUMA in Melbourne titled ‘Thin Skin’. Opening in July 2023, it will include Australian and international artists – the list will be released in the next few months. Speaking of curating, in July, I put together an exhibition of the Swedish artist Annika Ström – ‘Wait, I Need to Think About These Words’ – at the wonderful Mackintosh Lane in London, which is run by my friends the artists David Noonan, Kira Freije and Anna Higgins. I’ve also been working on a script, but it’s under wraps for now.

I’ve been enjoying my role as the inaugural editor of The National Gallery of Australia’s new publication The Annual, which is coming out in November to celebrate the gallery’s 40th birthday. (The NGA is in my hometown of Canberra, so it’s close to my heart.) Alongside commissioning articles from a slew of brilliant writers, I interviewed director Nick Mitzevich about the evolution of the gallery and what he sees as the future of museums, and Tracey Emin about her monumental sculpture When I sleep, which has recently been unveiled in the gallery’s sculpture garden. I’ve also been doing a fair bit of freelance writing: on Alice Neel for the Australian National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait magazine; on the sculpture of the German artist Katharina Fitz for a new monograph of her work; on the dreamy Serbian artist Ljiljana Blazevska for Alison Jacques gallery presentation at Frieze Masters; the inspiring Terry Winters for Stuart Shave’s Modern Art; Sarah Smuts-Kennedy’s ‘Energy Work’ at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand; and a review of ‘Ceremony: the 4th National Indigenous Art Triennial’ at the NGA for the Australian magazine The Monthly. I loved learning about the work of the brilliant, neglected Aotearoa New Zealand artist Flora Scales (1887-1985), when I was commissioned to write an essay on her life for the website devoted to her. I also dived into the life and work of another under-recognised artist, Kathleen Walne (1915-2011) for the art collective Obscure Secure – an ‘artist-led collaborative project focusing on work by 20th-century women artists’.

In August, I taught a course on ‘how to write about art’ in a centuries-old fortress where the Salzburg Summer Academy is based; it was established in the 1950s by the artist Oskar Kokoschka and my students were impassioned and inspiring. I’ve also done various talks: for the Royal Academy summer school on the evolution of art magazines and art fairs; on self-portraits for a panel discussion at the RWA in Bristol; the abstract expressionist Perle Fine for Gazelli House; on self-portraits for the Australian National Portrait Gallery; and I chaired a discussion at the Venice Biennale on curating feminist perspectives. I was happy to celebrate Katy Hessel’s new book, The Story of Art Without Men, at a fun discussion with Katy at the beautiful London Library, where I am often to be found writing. In October, I’ll be speaking on the muse in art at the Cheltenham Literature Festival on a panel with Jo Baring and Luisa-Maria MacCormack.

May 2022

First up (*sound of trumpets): The Mirror and the Palette is now available in paperback! For everyone who has bought a copy – or is about to: eternal thanks.

Spring is springing in the northern hemisphere, which made for a nice return to the UK after three months in Australia. It was great to be back in Oz with old friends and family. As well as getting the second draft of my new book The Other Side: Women, Art and the Spirit World to the publishers, I wrote various pieces, including a review of the wonderful ‘Know My Name: Australian Women Artists 1900 to Now’ at the National Gallery of Australia for The Monthly; and a profile of the writer and illustrator Matt Ottley for The Saturday Paper; his latest book is an extraordinary exploration of surviving mental illness.

Travelling between Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne and Castlemaine, I visited numerous artists’ studios for a painting show I’m curating for the inspiring Monash University Museum of Art in July 2023. (More information on this soon!) Speaking of curating: I’m putting together a small show dedicated the brilliant Swedish artist (and dear friend) Annika Ström, which will run in the first two weekends of July at the wonderful artist-run space Mackintosh Lane in East London. But most of my time has been taken up with writing: an essay on the life and work of the artist and illustrator Pamela Colman Smith, who designed the world’s most popular tarot deck in 1909; an essay on the egg in art (!) for a forthcoming book published by one of my favourite magazines, The Gourmand; a short piece on Land Art for Tate etc; catalogue essays for Renee So’s show at Cample Line in Scotland; David Noonan’s exhibition at the beautiful TarraWarra Museum of Art in Healesville, Australia; and my thoughts on Nicola Tyson’s amazing paintings for her first monograph. I also had fun ordering my thoughts on the pros and cons of the national pavilions at the Venice Biennale, for my alma mater frieze magazine. What an eternal debate that is. Speaking of Venice, I’m looking forward to visiting the Biennale in June, and in particular, Cecilia Alemani’s ‘Milk of Dreams’ (I wrote an essay for the catalogue). I’ll be chairing a discussion on feminist exhibitions on the 11 June – the day after taking part in a talk around female self-portraiture at the RWA in Bristol. All welcome! 

February 2022

I can’t quite believe it’s February! For the past couple of months, I’ve been working on the second draft of my new book on women, art and the spirit world and doing lots of freelance writing on various fascinators: a preview of ‘Meret Oppenheim: My Exhibition’ – organized by The Museum of Modern Art, New York; Kunstmuseum Bern; and the Menil Collection, Houston – for World of Interiors; a wall text for a Carmen Herrera painting for Tate Liverpool, an essay on portraits of women for the magazine of the National Portrait Gallery, Canberra, and essays for Elisa Sighicelli for her forthcoming show at GAM Milan; Caroline Walker for her show at Nottingham Castle; Marcus Jansen for his exhibition at Almine Rech; and Angelica Mesiti for her solo show ‘In the Round’ at Talbot Rice in Edinburgh. (If you’d like to see an Instagram live I did with Angelica about her new work, head over to my Instagram.) I also reviewed the brilliant ‘Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters’: an exhibition of more than 300 paintings, sculptures, ceramics, weavings, installations and films made by over 100 artists and collectives from across the Central and Western Deserts of Australia – territory that encompasses the lands of the Martu, Ngaanyatjarra and Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) peoples. This ground-breaking, utterly inspiring show travelled from the Museum of Australia in Canberra to The Box in Plymouth. 

My first foray into radio – a five-part essay ‘Artists and the Spirit World’ that I wrote and narrated for BBC Radio 3 – was broadcast in early January. (You can listen to it on catch-up on BBC Sounds.) In the essay I discuss, among other things, writing a piece for the triangle (!) for my dear friend, the artist Donna Huddleston. If you’d like to hear Donna and I discuss the evolution of her work, I interviewed her about her new show at Simon Lee in London (which is AMAZING) for the Royal Drawing School. It’s available here. I’m now focussing on a piece for frieze on the national pavilions in Venice – always a thorny subject. (Speaking of Venice, am very excited about Cecilia Alemani’s ‘The Milk of Dreams’ which is titled after a Leonora Carrington story ‘where life is constantly re-envisioned through the prism of the imagination’: I wrote an essay for the forthcoming catalogue.)

Last but not least, I was honoured to interview the incredible Rochelle Feinstein, whose six – six! – exhibitions opened concurrently in Europe and the US in Jan/Feb at Campoli Presti, Paris; Bridget Donahue and Candice Madey in New York, Hannah Hoffman Los Angeles, Nina Johnson Miami, and Galerie Francesca Pia Zurich. Phew! 

As for The Mirror and the Palette, I was thrilled to get this lovely write-up by Candy Bedworth in Daily Art Magazine. The paperback will be out soon! 

November 2021

It’s been a very busy few months with talks, interviews and podcasts for The Mirror and the Palette, which came out in September in the Netherlands and October in the United States. (See my ‘talks’ section for details.) I was thrilled that US Vogue listed The Mirror and the Palette in ‘One of the Best Books to Read this Fall’ and the great painter Celia Paul reviewed it for The New York Times. I was also blown away by this wonderful review by the art historian Julie M. Johnson in the Times Literary Supplement: such a thoughtful, close reading. I really felt that she understood what I was trying to achieve. I’ve also been flat out writing my new book The Other Side: Women, Art and the Spirit World (due in December, yikes!) and working on various freelance jobs – essays on marvellous artists, including Angelica Mesiti, the painters Roy Oxlade and Janet Sobel and the photographer Marilyn Stafford. I’ve also been doing a lot of scriptwriting. Hopefully, I’ll be able to share some news on this soon. Everything crossed.

June 2021

It’s been a busy few months with numerous talks and interviews about The Mirror and the Palette (see my talks section for details). Speaking of which, I loved this review by Eliza Allan for Connect in Art. I've also been away with the fairies writing a five-part essay for BBC Radio 3 (my favourite radio station!) on art and the spirit world. We’re recording it in July. How to write for audio as opposed to the page has been a fascinating learning curve. I’ve also written catalogue essays for three wonderful painters Sara Anstis, Jenna Gribbon and Sabine Moritz, and enjoyed being a judge for the Freelands Foundation Prize for art students. As well I’ve penned something for the forthcoming Venice Biennale, but it’s under wraps for now! It’s been inspiring to see how artists have risen to the challenge of being creative during lockdown. When I’m not buried beneath freelance work, I’ve been immersed in research and writing for my forthcoming book on women artists and the spirit world. The more I delve into it, the richer the subject becomes.. 

March 2021

The Mirror and the Palette is out! There have been some lovely reviews by Nancy Durrant for the Evening Standard, Lucy Davies for The Telegraph, and Simeon House for the Daily Mail and excerpts (thank you!) in The Double Negative and frieze. If you're in the UK, you can buy it here and in Australia, here. I’m also really thrilled that The Mirror and the Palette was acquired by Pegasus, which means a US release in October. In the meantime, I’ve been busy writing catalogue essays for some incredible artists: Marilyn Minter’s forthcoming exhibition at Mo.Co. in Montpellier; George Shaw at Gallery Lin Lin in Taipei; ‘Hilma af Klint: The Secret Paintings’, AGNSW, Sydney; and a piece for a new book about the wondrous paintings and works on paper by Sabine Moritz. I also wrote a piece titled ‘A Tree Will Never Betray You’ about the amazing Georgian artist, Elene Chantladze, for Stuart Shave / Modern Art. I loved talking with the wonderful Daniela Van Horn for Voices on Art: The Van Horn Gallery Podcast – it’s a wide-ranging interview about The Mirror and the Palette,  my life as an artist in Australia, moving to London, waitressing and how I stumbled into becoming an editor at frieze.  I’m also researching my forthcoming book on women artists and the spirit world, and busy with a script … more updates soon!

January 2021

My new book, The Mirror and the Palette is out in March: You can pre-order it here. I'm so thrilled it's been included on lists of books to look forward to by Apollo magazine, The Art Newspaper, The Observer,  and the Financial Times.

I'm currently writing about Sophie Taeuber-Arp for Tate Etc (cannot wait for her forthcoming exhibition at Tate Modern) and have reviewed the brilliant new biography of Isabel Rawsthorne Out of the Cage by Carol Jacobi for a forthcoming issue of RA magazine.

I interviewed the great Nan Goldin for the National Gallery of Australia's brilliant 'Know My Name' - a conference, exhibition, publication and more; I also talked to the wonderful director Zeina Durra about her hypnotic new film Luxor. You can read my review of the film for frieze here. 

I was honoured to be invited by my old art school, VCA in Melbourne, to curate an online mini-tour of the graduating classes. I was so impressed by the incredible talent on view: it made my selection very hard. 

Finally, I wrote about some of things I'm looking forward to in 2021! 

October 2020

I've been finalising edits on my forthcoming book The Mirror and the Palette (out in March!)

My latest article is about the thrilling exhibition devoted to the great Baroque artist 'Artemisia' at London's National Gallery. 

I've written an essay for the forthcoming exhibition of Hilma af Klint at Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne, Australia and will be interviewing Nan Goldin for the Know My Name conference being held at the National Gallery Australia, which will runs online from 10-13 November. The conference will be considering 'historical and contemporary experiences of gender and feminism in the arts to imagine new futures'. 

I interviewed Tracey Emin and wrote a feature for RA magazine about her forthcoming exhibition 'The Loneliness of the Soul' with Edvard Munch. 
It was a great joy to hear the wonderful Lianne La Havas perform for a small audience for Frieze Week. I then interviewed Lianne for a special episode of Bow Down about her interest in Frida Kahlo. Finally, it's been a huge privilege to be a judge for the 2020 John Moore's Painting Prize. 

My latest article is about the moving recreation of Derek Jarman's cottage at the Garden Museum in London. I have also written essays for the Chart Art Fair 2020 'The Real Story — Women Artists and the Art Market' – and 'The Importance of Acknowledging Women Artists’ for The Freelands Foundation Annual Report.

September 2020

I was interviewed about Bow Down and women in art in Australia by Namila Benson for The Art Show on ABC radio and in New Zealand for the City Gallery Wellington / Te Whare Toi blog:'Born Every Day', by Megan Dunn. I finished writing a catalogue essay in response to Lisa Brice’s paintings for her exhibition Gemeentemuseum Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands, which opens 21 November 2020.

Other forthcoming work includes an essay on the paintings of Jadé Fadojutimi for Pippy Houldsworth Gallery, London; a piece on the intertwining of art and spiritualism in the paintings of Hilma af Klint for Heide Museum of Modern Art, Melbourne and an interview for the RA Magazine with Tracey Emin about her forthcoming exhibition with Edvard Munch at London’s Royal Academy. I’m also working on a novel, a proposal for a new work of non-fiction, various scripts, a regular column for frieze and the final edits of The Mirror and the Palette, which will be published in March. 

In October, I'll be going to Liverpool for the next round of judging of the John Moores Painting Prize. 

Series 2 of Bow Down podcast is now live! Series 1 has been included on ‘best of’ art podcasts by the Royal Academy, the Evening Standard, the Art Newspaper, Apollo, Christies and The Arts Desk.