Madge Gill

Born in 1882 in East London, Madge Gill was placed in an orphanage at the age of nine and later shipped to Canada to work on a farm. On her return to London, she married and had four children, only two of which survived. In 1919 she began producing intricate ink drawings on untreated calicos and cardboard, citing as her inspiration the spirit-guide Myrninerest. She generated a large body of work over the next four decades. She died in 1961.