I have just finished reading a rather fascinating biography about Rosaleen Norton, the so-called 'witch of kings cross', by Nevill Drury. A really interesting and well written view into the life of a often misunderstood woman far ahead of her time in regards to her views towards art, religion and witchcraft.
Australia at this time (1950's) had a rather prudish mentality and was in no way as tolerant and culturally diverse as it is today. Rosaleen's rather risque paintings shocked the general public and she was, more than once, taken to court on obscenity charges.
"In a sense we can say that Rosaleen was a feminist in a time when there were no feminists. A witch at a time when Witchcraft was still widely misunderstood. More than anything else, she was a free spirit, an independent venturer in the magical cosmos. Her visions of the night - those eerie phantasms which haunted her imagination and opened doorways to other realms of mythic consciousness - serve as a reminder that there are always greater realities in the universe which we can acknowledge and explore." - Nevill Drury
