This is my first post for the blog and I am excited to announce it as the opening of my Residency at Swedenborg House. The opening event ‘Profane and Sacred City’ will introduce the residency to the public, explore what I intend to create, and introduce my collaborators and partners.

The ‘Profane and Sacred City’ of the title is of course London and is a quote from the graphic novel I am writing The Mystagogue: The Life and Times of Phillippe Jacques de Loutherbourg, Artist and Alchemist. ‘London was a strange city, both profane and sacred. Full of magick and mysticism, but brutally commercial and riotous.’ Phillippe is a French artist who comes to London to become the first stage designer and special effects artist on the English stage. It is a true story!

I’ll be writing this book during my residency, and it’s being illustrated by the artist Anna Chiarini.

I’m also writing a stage play about the life of Count Alessandro Cagliostro, and we’ll be previewing it at the event, directed by the Young Vic’s Jagoda Kamov. Watch this space for more info and full documentation of the event!