Starting in the late 1930s and continuing throughout the early 1940s, Colquhoun’s exploration of gender increasingly took on a spiritual aspect. Rather than using stories from the historic or mythic past to disparage traditional asymmetric gender power, she turned her attention to the more fundamental questions of the origin and nature of gender differences and the possibility of their ultimate reconciliation. She drew inspiration from Christian and Hebrew mysticism and from hermetic and alchemical sources. This rich brew was distilled partly in her writings and partly in her painting. A central theme in this was the androgyne.
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