Hilma's Ghost is a feminist artist collective co-founded by artists and educators Dannielle Tegeder and Sharmistha Ray that fuses contemporary art with modern spirituality through forms of divination and ritual. Named after the erstwhile Swedish artist and mystic, Hilma af Klint, the collective's work is a critique of gendered power structures, providing a critical and revolutionary platform for rethinking gender in the arts while recovering feminist histories as its ballast for critique.

 

The collective, which was founded by Ray and Tegeder at the height of the pandemic in 2020, acts as a collaborative model for feminist research, artistic production, enchanted pedagogies, and community. Their work ranges from the traditional to the esoteric, including paintings and drawings, surrealist games, a tarot deck, ritual object-based installations, pedagogical workshops, curated exhibitions, community projects, and experimental books.

 

In the 4+ years of their collective’s existence, Hilma’s Ghost have completed more than 20 collaborative projects and participated in 50 public programs both nationally and internationally. In 2022, the duo began an itinerant art school with generative workshops fusing art and magic that have been attended by over 3K people both on and offline. Their limited edition tarot deck, Abstract Futures Tarot, has a popular following amongst artists. It is now in its third edition.

  • Vitality (2024) harnesses the innate vibrational energy of specific colors and crystals to imagine the resulting work as a talisman,...
    Vitality, 2024 (Embroidered)

    Vitality (2024) harnesses the innate vibrational energy of specific colors and crystals to imagine the resulting work as a talisman, with its own special power. Through ritual processes that accompany their art-making, the collective’s duo mined the potential of divination for their creative process in this work. To manifest vitality, one must meditate on this work. Vitality is an original rendering by the duo that has been interpreted by Milaaya in textile form.

     

    Different textures are created using cotton and silk threads to bring out the essence of each shape adding play of dimension and depth. 

  • Divination has long been held as a source of empowerment for women, providing tools for liberation within patriarchal societies. Hilma’s...
    What You Desire Will Manifest, 2024 (Embroidered)

    Divination has long been held as a source of empowerment for women, providing tools for liberation within patriarchal societies. Hilma’s Ghost is committed to the intersection of feminist art history and divination. The composition of this painting culminates from a reading from their popular tarot deck. This gives rise to mystical imagery relaying secret meanings that can be accessed through a meditation on the painting. What You Desire Will Manifest (2024) is an original rendering by the collective’s duo that has been interpreted by Milaaya in a textile form.

     

    A captivating blend of thread techniques, including modern interpretations of French knots, backstitch, satin stitch, chain stitch, and spring stitch, gives each element its distinct identity while seamlessly blending them together. The raised details add a striking 3D effect, creating a visually stunning experience.