Ithell Colquhoun’s Nanjizal Stalactite

The song of the Sea archway at Nanjizal Beach with Colquhoun’s narrow painting Stalactite (1962).

It wasn’t until I visited the Ithell Colquhoun exhibition for the second time at the Tate Gallery in St Ives that I recognised a painting of hers as Nanjizal Beach, which I’d only recently been to for the first time. It’s a lovely, desolate beach, completely empty when we went; partly because it was winter, mostly because there’s no car park there – it’s only accessible by the coastal path.

Its famous Song of the Sea is a large arch with a tall, thin slit. The water beneath it is a beautiful turquoise and crystal clear – even on a dull winter’s day. Colquhoun’s slim painting of the scene contains clitoris- and penis-shaped elements to emphasise the sexual forms found in nature.

Ithell Colquhoun: Between Worlds, continues at the Tate, St Ives, until May this year.

Previously on Barnflakes
Notes on Ithell Colquhoun

Previous
Previous

Around Penjerrick Garden

Next
Next

Bonds of the West Indies