KHAMSIN, 1966
Merz collage. 18 x 18in. (45.7 x 45.7cm.)
Provenance
David Lay, Penzance, 2nd June 1994, lot 404.
David Lay, Penzance, 27 July 2006, lot 138.
With Red Raven Arts, London.
Exhibited
Newlyn, Newlyn Art Gallery, 1967, No. 13.
Hamburg, Gallerie für Zeitgenössische Kunst, 1969, No11, as 57.5 x 57.5cm.
Bristol, Bristol Arts Centre, 1970, ex catalogue.
Penzance, Newlyn Orion Gallery, 1976, No. 53.
The Khamsin is a hot, dry, southerly wind which prevails in Egypt and the deserts of Africa from the middle of March to the first week in May. The name is derived from the Arabic for fifty days, the length of time over which the wind was said to blow.
All the elements in this relief are collaged from domestic scraps, including paper, string and packaging. The brown backboard forms a flat plane, the desolate desert background onto which the collaged elements have been applied. On the horizon, a thin mountain range, formed of strips torn from a paper doily, runs from side to side.
The sun is the key to the meaning of this work. It is formed from a ring of thin white card, with a centre circle removed. It has six equal rectangles externally ranged around its circumference. In form it is identical with a number of coloured drawings (unpublished) in which Colquhoun explored her conception of the zauir anpin. The zauir anpin, or lesser countenance of Microprosopus, comprises the six Sephiroth of the Tree of Life from Chesed to Yesod, and represents the three-fold spiritual worlds of wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
The plastic form in the foreground is an ace cube tray and the quatrefoil shapes which flank it are made from chocolate box trays. It is proposed here that thee represent an oasis and date palms, the water and food necessary for the survival of the physical body. It is also proposed that the sinuous length of string represents the serpent of temptation.
Extreme physical environments, such as deserts, are traditionally associated with the testing of an individual’s resolve and spiritual purity. The work, therefore, stands for the attainment of wisdom and understanding through the testing of the physical body.
The meaning of the other elements in the work is obscure. Perhaps there are other occult references which those more skilled in the Qabalah and gematria might uncover.