This research project explores the art collection of John Gray, once considered the model for Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray. Aesthetic poet John Gray met the aristocratic writer, Marc-André Raffalovich, in London in the 1890s. By the time they moved to Morningside in 1905, they had both converted to Catholicism and distanced themselves from Oscar Wilde’s circle. Raffalovich helped fund the building of Saint Peter's Church, where Gray served as the parish priest.

Raffalovich ran a regular salon at Whitehouse Terrace with Gray and their housekeeper, Florence Gribbell. They curated each gathering with artists, literati, religious men, and people they encountered in their daily lives. Visitors to Edinburgh like John Lehmann and Walter Sickert dined with them, alongside Scottish artists.

I worked with Historic Environment Scotland to research and present a short video on their life and art and also contributed to the University of Aberdeen’s Special Collections exhibition Fear and Fascination. As part of their celebration of all things Gothic, I led a workshop examining the archival traces of Gray and Raffalovich's shared life through letters, collections, and books, using the art they gathered as inspiration for a series of collages imagining the queer possibilities between the lines.