These oil paintings of mediums, seances, and ectoplasmic discharge are loosely based on mid-19th to early 20th Century spiritualist photos. They have gone through the mill of my own artistic impulse and come out like this. 21st century, I think.

 Spiritualism was a wildly popular, occult movement that started in 1848, when the Fox sisters of Hydesville, New York claimed regular visitations from a spirit they called Mr. Splitfoot. The sisters became massive celebrities and conducted seances all over the world, conjuring spirits before thousands, including kings and queens and a president’s wife. Seances became a thing, with others jumping on, many becoming celebrities, as well. The Fox Sisters would later admit that it had all been a hoax, and then, a little later, take it back and swear that it was real.

This phenomenon coincided not only with the Civil War and its many dead, but also with the early, pioneering days of photography; and there exist amazing photos, made using some tricky techniques, of these mediums, who were using some tricky techniques themselves, at table with their desperate patrons, surrounded by emanations of loved ones who had passed.

That given, the paintings, I hope, offer a less harrowing experience.

Kevin Quigley