NIGHTSHAKING WITH THE INGRAM COLLECTION

On the “crossing over” wall between the two 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘚𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 rooms there are five small alchemical works. A foretelling of the crowning of nature that is possible as a result of the work of the Night Sea Journey.

Dean Melbourne’s 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 (𝘐𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥) painting holds the centre of the wall with Chantal Powell's bronze 𝘈𝘭𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘺 𝘊𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘯 sculpture to the left. The bronze Crown is paired with a beautiful, jewel-like Dora Carrington painting, 𝘐𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘛𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘖𝘯 𝘈 𝘏𝘰𝘳𝘴𝘦 (C.1920s), made from silver foil, oils and ink on glass. A triumphant, almost Arthurian image, the female figure charges heroically on her quest with a sword at her side and a billowing blue cloak.

To the right another of Powell's bronze works, a pair of flaming wands based on an emblem from Claude Paradin’s 𝘋𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴 (1551), sits above John Craxton’s gold-framed 𝘚𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘍𝘪𝘴𝘩 (1956). The fish is a familiar symbol of the unconscious but this wonderfully colourful image is also indicitive of the transformative “cauda pavonis” (peacock's tail) moment of alchemy in which an array of colours appear.