Poster for Nosferatu (dir. Robert Eggers, 2024) It's been a while since we've discussed vampires here, and as the nights are now drawing in and the leaves are turning their autumnal colours, I wanted to go back to my roots and discuss my favourite subject. Back in January of this year, on another cold, dark,… Continue reading On Nosferatu
Author: Rosie Dahlstrom
Artist and writer, Glasgow and London.
On Voices
Note: A version of this essay was presented in the form of a lecture entitled 'Voicing the Voiceless' at Conjuring Creativity conference on contemporary art and the esoteric, which took place in London on the 15th and 16th March 2025. “‘Misereatur vestry omnipotens deus, et, dismissis peccatis vestris…’The words issued light as a soap bubble… Continue reading On Voices
On the Dwarf and the Infanta
“‘Mi bella Princesa, your funny little dwarf will never dance again. It is a pity, for he is so ugly that he might have made the King smile.’ ‘But why will he not dance again?’ asked the Infanta, laughing. ‘Because his heart is broken,’ answered the Chamberlain. And the Infanta frowned, and her dainty rose-leaf… Continue reading On the Dwarf and the Infanta
On Fathers, Sons and ‘The Prince of Egypt’
“Mouth at the worm’s ear, Father said: We have loved each other, dear Willie, but now, for reasons we cannot understand, that bond has been broken. But our bond can never be broken. As long as I live, you will always be with me, child. Then let out a sob” George Saunders, Lincoln in the… Continue reading On Fathers, Sons and ‘The Prince of Egypt’
On ‘Phantasmagoregasm’
“In Our Fatal Magic, it is the wound or cut that produces the portal that enables the double movement between becoming and unbecoming.” Bridget Crone, ‘Wounds of Unbecoming’, introduction to Our Fatal Magic by Tai Shani (Strange Attractor Press, 2019) This article should be more properly called ‘On Tai Shani’s Our Fatal Magic’, as it… Continue reading On ‘Phantasmagoregasm’
On ‘Spirits of the Riverbank’
The First Show This collaborative project started with an artists' residency in August 2023, at the International Kuenstlerhaus of Kebbel Villa, which is a contemporary art museum incorporating an artist residency programme located in Schwandorf-Fronberg, Bavaria, Germany. I was lucky enough to go with three artists that I have been working with since we all… Continue reading On ‘Spirits of the Riverbank’
On Pervy Old Men: Part 2
"Finding oneself in the position of the beloved is so violent a discovery, even traumatic: being loved makes me feel directly the gap between what I am as a determinate being and the unfathomable X in me that causes love. Lacan's definition of love - 'love is giving something one doesn't have ...' has to… Continue reading On Pervy Old Men: Part 2
On Hares
“Hare hare god send thee care, I am in a hare's likeness now, but I shall be a woman even now, hare hare god send thee care.” Extract from Isobel Gowdie's third confession, 1662 Albrecht Dürer: Self Portrait at 28, oil on panel (1500) I've just arrived in Germany, on my way to Kebbel-Villa's International… Continue reading On Hares
On Joe Orton
"Went to see my accountants today. They suggested I buy the house on a mortgage. Makes tax easier. Also that I buy tax redemption certificates. Solves a lot of problems. They said, 'Are you married?' 'No,' I said. 'Any prospects of you getting married in the near future?' 'No,' I said. They almost advised me… Continue reading On Joe Orton
On Alice Neel’s Babies
I first came across Alice Neel's work when my tutor Richard recommended to me the documentary Alice Neel, a film made by her grandson in 2007. This was another hit from the Glasgow School of Art library's DVD collection. This film, which I watched in my second year at GSA at age eighteen or nineteen,… Continue reading On Alice Neel’s Babies
Sertraline Dreams 