Josefa Tolrà

«A creature of light guides my hand”. The spread of spiritualism across Europe in the late nineteenth century offered those outside the upper classes the opportunity of experiencing spirituality without the interference of ecclesiastical hierarchy or dogmas. Communication by medium with spirits and the promise of reincarnation broadened the experience of this new primitive Christianity. Spiritualism, like anarchism, promoted harmony between different social strata, the emancipation of women, and new teaching methodologies in contact with nature. The pieces – drawings, texts, embroideries – were a way to heal the Soul during an age torn asunder by war and the loss of loved ones. They only felt at peace when they were drawing and this active silence enabled them to travel between the past and the future. They did not considered themselves artists, but mediators between worlds. They drew creatures of light and fractal scenes, they produced needle work combining words and images. Esoteric and boundary-pushing, they never commercialised their work. Their creations are modest in their substance but sublime in their trascendency.

Pilar Bonet