For this episode my guest is art historian Emily Leon. Emily’s research focuses on modernism and the esoteric interests of late-19th and early-20th century western artists, with a particular concentration on abstraction and the links between art, science, and religion. Since 2017, much of her scholarship has focused on the social, spiritual, and theoretical implications of Swedish artist Hilma af Klint’s work. Most recently, in 2023 she presented “Past-Future, Present-Future, Future-Future: Hilma af Klint in Three Temporal Dimensions” for the Modernist Futures conference, hosted by Modernist Studies in Asia.
Emily is also the founder of the transdisciplinary working group 'In the Eggshell', a five-part lecture series that seeks to redress modern art by turning to how the sciences, religious beliefs, and occult traditions provide a better articulation of the subject.
In the interview I begin by talking with her about the origins of the relationship between esotericism and modern, abstract art. From there our conversation moves on to Hilma af Klint, specifically the occult ideas that influenced her art as well as the unusual methods she used such as spirit channeling that were a vital aspect of her craft. We also discuss the deeper meaning of Af Klint’s artwork and the vision she had for how it was meant be displayed, before concluding by talking about Emily’s own efforts to encourage a better understanding of the relationship between modern art, science and esotericism with the 'In the Eggshell' lecture series.
Emily can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DisincarnateEVL and more details on 'In the Eggshell' are available at https://desertsuprematism.com/.
If you would like to support the upkeep of the podcast you can do so via Ko-fi. To buy the podcast a coffee go to https://ko-fi.com/someotherspherepodcast. Thank you!
The Some Other Sphere theme is from Purple Planet Music - ' Hubbub' by Geoff Harvey and Chris Martyn.
Episode 77 - Matt Frederick - A Meeting at The Crossroads: Robert Johnson and The Devil
Episode 76 - Eli Lewis-Lycett - The Local Mythstorian
Episode 75 - Richard Daniels - The Occultaria of Albion
Episode 74 - Kate Cherrell - Burials and Beyond
Episode 73 - Caz Clarke - The Pentyrch UFO Incident
Episode 72 - Travis Watson - Phantom Black Dogs
Episode 71 - AP Strange - Christmas Weirdness and Festive Forteana
Episode 70 - Genevieve Gornichec - The Witch‘s Heart
Episode 69 - Paolo Sammut - Hauntings, Experience and Paranormal Investigation
Episode 68 - Douglas Batchelor - Practicing Magic
Episode 67 - Hayley Stevens - The Science of Strange Things
Episode 66 - Amy Boucher - The Ghosts and Folklore of Shropshire
Episode 65 - Dr Dean Radin - Mind, Consciousness and Magic
Episode 64 - John Higgs - William Blake vs The World
Episode 63 - Dr Jack Hunter - The Anthropology of the Supernatural
Episode 62 - Susan Demeter - Cosmic Witch
Episode 61 - Ralph Blumenthal - The Passion of John Mack
Episode 60 - Anna Björg Þórarinsdóttir - Icelandic Sorcercy and Witchcraft
Episode 59 - Daniel Franklin and Frankie Larson - The Propagated Podcast
Episode 58 - Dr Holly Walters - Shaligram Stones
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The Modern West
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Dairyland Frights
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL