Biography

Image courtesy of Three Hands Press/Anima Nocturna.2014

Amodali is a multidisciplinary artist, musician and writer from the North of England. These activities and disciplines have been applied to investigating the metaphysics, phenomenology and practice of sexual magic since the 1980s. Her work is concerned with exploring the phenomenology of altered states of consciousness experienced by women in order to retrieve psychic and physical aspects of the ‘magical body’ and its occult dynamics which have been rejected or less explored within the Western magical tradition. She suggests that the symbolic narratives which define femininity within esotericism should be challenged and the ontological status of women re-orientated accordingly through embodied, alchemical ‘biognostic’ practices.

Amodali, Isis -Inside the Third Garment. Mixed media Collage

Her practice-led research is primarily focused upon excavating the erotic, divine feminine in the form of the Thelemic goddess Babalon— using extended vocal methods, ritual performance, sexual trance states and a self-developed array of magical technologies. Destabilizing traditional models of gendered participation in esoteric practices also has the effect of bringing queer theory into this discourse which draws on Luce Irigaray’s concepts of ‘radical immanence’ and progressive notions of the divine feminine as well as New Materialist discourse on posthuman interaction with the biosphere and cosmos—theories which reshape how we perceive our relationships with matter from atomic particles through to the universe in macrocosm. Her research shares philosopher Timothy Morton’s speculation on mysticism’s ‘reserves of unthought zones of materiality’ and she suggests that progressive, esoteric conceptualizations of sexuality can provide physical mechanisms for such unthought zones to manifest and break down barriers between human and non-human life.

Her praxis has been widely showcased since the 1990’s as part of a series of live ritual performances with the ‘Mother Destruction’ project and more recently in solo presentations across Europe and the U.S.A.

Amodali -Mother Destruction – Hagazussa Photo session. 1999. Photo by Robert Cook.

Early musical output in the post-punk, experimental-electronic, underground music scene includes an album featuring her vocals and keyboards on Factory records with the ‘Royal Family and the Poor’ (FACT140). Following this collaboration, Amodali became fascinated with the magical aspects of voice and the esoteric role of the chantress and has developed a unique set of extended vocal techniques as part of her work with the 156 current. She is most often associated with ‘Mother Destruction’, a ten-year ritual music/ performance project created with Patrick Leagas of 6 Comm. Mother Destruction recorded a large catalogue of musical works and toured extensively throughout Europe between 1990-2000.

Amodali live at WGT/Leipzig Kuppelhalle. 2008. With Psychic TV, Voxus Imp and Barditos.

After the Mother Destruction project came to an end,  Amodali continued developing a practice which integrates voice, movement and trance states within performance spaces as a means to create immersive experiences of the 156 current. She has performed in Europe and U.S. as a solo artist. Since 2000, Amodali has also established a presence as an artist and writer. A graduate of the Liverpool School of Art, her erotically charged, complex collages of the subtle anatomy of the female magical body have been exhibited in London, Seattle and Dublin in recent years.

‘Moon Moth Woman‘-Image used as Cover for Dreamflesh Magazine.

Amodali has recently completed a MA in Fine Art to further explore altered states of consciousness and the embodied, divine feminine within practice-led artistic research. Extending her repertoire into sculpture, installation work and short film making.

Amodali 2020-21, Angels, Angles, Anarchy-installation and Geogamicas:Galvah-short film. Documentation of exhibition at the LJMU Exhibition Research laboratory.

Amodali’s writings have been published in various book publications such as Schillerndes Dunkel: Geschichte, Entwicklung und Themen der Gothic-Szene, ‘Spirit Builders’: A free Illuminist Approach to the Antient and primitive Rite of Memphis Misraim, and an essay was featured in the Three Hand Press Anthology,   ‘A Rose veiled in Black’– Arcana and Art of Our Lady Babalon.

Many additional side-projects include,  soundtrack material written and recorded for ‘Claire Obscure’,  a film by  Madmoiselle L/Limonadeart which was screened at international short film festivals in France, Canada, Singapore and the U.S

Amodali lectures on subjects relating to the magic of Babalon, and has given talks on the magical, phenomenological aspects of the 156 current at the ‘Ecology, Cosmos and Consciousness’ lecture series at the October Gallery, London. 2013 and at the Esoteric Book Conference 2014 . the Magical Women Conferences 2019/21, the ASE Conference 2018, and the Studium Generale KABK lecture series. An extensive synthesis of her magical practice, THE MARKS OF TETH, is due to be published by THREE HANDS PRESS .