Vivienne Roberts on Madge Gill

About

‘Madge Gill’s mesmerising artworks have fascinated audiences for a century. Her impulsively created ink drawings of female faces floating ethereally within highly patterned backgrounds on huge swathes of calico are instantly identifiable, as are the thousands of smaller works on postcards and pieces of cardboard. More rare, but equally distinguishable, are her rhythmic and intricate hand woven silk and knitted textiles that she often made into throws, rugs and even her own clothes.

Madge Gill, although popular, remains an enigma. Was she a true advocate of spirit-inspired art or was this a convenient mask to wear to hide her compulsive urge to create? Was Myrninerest really her spirit guide or just Madge’s ‘inner rest’ constructed to make sense of her artistic achievements?’

Vivienne Roberts is the curator and archivist at The College of Psychic Studies. 

She was introduced to the work of Madge Gill by the renowned art historian, Roger Cardinal in 1999. Vivienne established madgegill.com, a website devoted to the artist, and presented a solo show of her drawings at the Julian Hartnoll Gallery in 2009. In 2013, Roger and Vivienne co-curated with Henry Boxer and Mark De Novellis the retrospective of Madge's art called Madge Gill: Medium & Visionary at the Orleans House Gallery. 

Vivienne published her research on Madge Gill in a special edition of the College of Psychic Studies’ magazine, Light, in 2019 and is currently working on a new catalogue essay about the artist for an upcoming exhibition in Barcelona in 2023.