Trish Morrissey - Automatic Writing
from The Phenomena of Materialisation 2020 © Trish Morrissey
Phenomena of Materialisation is based on photographs of Spiritualist mediums from the early 20th century. The number of mediums exploded in the aftermath of the first world war as the chance of being able to speak to and receive messages from loved ones lost in battle was very appealing to those suffering loss and longing. Ectoplasm, which was often brought forth from somewhere in the body of the medium, represented the border between the living and the dead. It was material and ethereal at the same time.
The vast majority of psychic mediums were women, and the experts who studied and photographed them (with the intention for the most part to prove they were frauds) were men, often doctors. The seance sessions sometimes included intimate examinations to make sure that no objects had been hidden in clothing or orifices. The medium was then sewn into a dress or bag, sometimes covering her entire head and hands. Photographs were taken during the seance and used to either prove or disprove the medium’s authenticity. Photographs taken with flash reveal more to those who view them than what the participants would have witnessed during the medium’s performance in the dim, candle-lit seance room.
The series title is from Dr Albert von Schrenck-Notzing’s (1862-1929) book of the same name published in 1920, which serves as a study and critique of well-known European mediums of that time. He was a physician, psychiatrist and psychic researcher who believed that ectoplasm was a genuine manifestation from the body, but he did not believe that it came from the spirit world.
The genesis of this series came from my research into Ruth Serlachius’ (1882-1963), involvement in European Spiritualism and the Occult.
Trish Morrissey is a visual artist working with photography and moving image. Dublin born, she now lives in the UK. In her work, she uses her own biography and weaves it in and out of the stories of others, using her body as a means of re-enactment and personal reflection, creating a narrative about female experience.
Morrissey has exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally for over twenty-five years, including Turner Contemporary, UK; Victoria and Albert Museum,UK; Palazzo Strozzi, Italy, and Centre for Contemporary Photography, Australia. A mid-career survey exhibition Autofictions: Twenty Years of Photography and Film opened in Serlachius Museum, Finland in 2022 and went on to tour the UK and Ireland 2023/2024.
Her work is held in public and private collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Michael Wilson Centre for Photography, UK; Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation, Finland; Bohuslän Museum, Sweden; Martin Parr Foundation, UK and The Arts Council of Ireland.
Morrissey’s work features in several survey publications including Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945 by Gerry Badger (2022); Making It Up: Photographic Fictions by Marta Weiss (2018); Photography and Ireland by Justin Carville (2012); Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography by Susan Bright (2010); and Vitamin Ph, Survey of International Contemporary Photography by Rodrigo Alonso (2006) and The Photograph as Contemporary Art by Charlotte Cotton, Thames and Hudson 2006.
from The Phenomena of Materialisation 2020 © Trish Morrissey
Phenomena of Materialisation is based on photographs of Spiritualist mediums from the early 20th century. The number of mediums exploded in the aftermath of the first world war as the chance of being able to speak to and receive messages from loved ones lost in battle was very appealing to those suffering loss and longing. Ectoplasm, which was often brought forth from somewhere in the body of the medium, represented the border between the living and the dead. It was material and ethereal at the same time.
The vast majority of psychic mediums were women, and the experts who studied and photographed them (with the intention for the most part to prove they were frauds) were men, often doctors. The seance sessions sometimes included intimate examinations to make sure that no objects had been hidden in clothing or orifices. The medium was then sewn into a dress or bag, sometimes covering her entire head and hands. Photographs were taken during the seance and used to either prove or disprove the medium’s authenticity. Photographs taken with flash reveal more to those who view them than what the participants would have witnessed during the medium’s performance in the dim, candle-lit seance room.
The series title is from Dr Albert von Schrenck-Notzing’s (1862-1929) book of the same name published in 1920, which serves as a study and critique of well-known European mediums of that time. He was a physician, psychiatrist and psychic researcher who believed that ectoplasm was a genuine manifestation from the body, but he did not believe that it came from the spirit world.
The genesis of this series came from my research into Ruth Serlachius’ (1882-1963), involvement in European Spiritualism and the Occult.
Trish Morrissey is a visual artist working with photography and moving image. Dublin born, she now lives in the UK. In her work, she uses her own biography and weaves it in and out of the stories of others, using her body as a means of re-enactment and personal reflection, creating a narrative about female experience.
Morrissey has exhibited in solo and group shows nationally and internationally for over twenty-five years, including Turner Contemporary, UK; Victoria and Albert Museum,UK; Palazzo Strozzi, Italy, and Centre for Contemporary Photography, Australia. A mid-career survey exhibition Autofictions: Twenty Years of Photography and Film opened in Serlachius Museum, Finland in 2022 and went on to tour the UK and Ireland 2023/2024.
Her work is held in public and private collections including the Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Michael Wilson Centre for Photography, UK; Gösta Serlachius Fine Arts Foundation, Finland; Bohuslän Museum, Sweden; Martin Parr Foundation, UK and The Arts Council of Ireland.
Morrissey’s work features in several survey publications including Another Country: British Documentary Photography Since 1945 by Gerry Badger (2022); Making It Up: Photographic Fictions by Marta Weiss (2018); Photography and Ireland by Justin Carville (2012); Auto Focus: The Self-Portrait in Contemporary Photography by Susan Bright (2010); and Vitamin Ph, Survey of International Contemporary Photography by Rodrigo Alonso (2006) and The Photograph as Contemporary Art by Charlotte Cotton, Thames and Hudson 2006.