Transmutations

We talk to curator Stephen Romano about the new exhibition at The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft

Courtney Brooke — Crimson Light

Using the languages and aesthetics of Witchcraft and shamanism, Transmutations explores what cannot be articulated, through the medium of esoteric photography. Curator Stephen Romano has aimed to collate an eco-system of works with an internal equilibrium, featuring art by Destiny Turner, Alexis Karl, Courtney Brooke, Lorena Torres Martell and Nahw Yg with words by Kristen J. Sollee. Uniting the artists is not only a similar subject matter, but a particular kind of authenticity — channeling their own true life experience and trauma. “Our brains are hardwired to recognise this kind of authenticity across art forms — some might call it soul,” Romano says. The horror-inspired world of Torres Martell also expresses a strong sense of life lived, and the softness and deep-seated empathy of Nahw Yg’s cathartic work hints at her experience as a Covid nurse in France. He hopes the realm of visual arts can contribute to the spirit of humanity in a positive way — a viewer looking for another path might connect with something inborn in the artists.

A renowned collector and dealer in outsider and esoteric art, Transmutations is the fourth exhibition Romano has curated for the Buckland Museum of Witchcraft and Magick. The otherworldly has had a presence in his life since childhood, from automatic drawing to imaginary friends. An aunt in Montreal who was similarly inclined became a gateway to the metaphysical world. He found that occult visual arts are means by which we gain affirmation of things not easily articulated. Romano later worked with outsider artists and observed their own traumatic experiences manifested, and when he became an art dealer including the outsider perspective seemed a natural extension. An avid William Mortensen collector, he holds the largest collection of Mortensen’s photographs acquired in its own serendipitous way. But that’s another story.

Transmutations — Witches, Healers, Oracles is exhibited at The Buckland Museum of Witchcraft 4th March until the 30th May 2021.

Courtney Brooke — Gilded

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