Advisory Committee Chair
Jessica Dallow
Advisory Committee Members
Paulina Banas
Lucy Curzon
Document Type
Thesis
Date of Award
2022
Degree Name by School
Master of Arts (MA) College of Arts and Sciences
Abstract
This thesis investigates the evolution of animal representations in paintings and sculptures of Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). Writings on her early Surrealist work often draw attention to Carrington’s embrace of the horse as a representation of self. However, over her extensive career, the menagerie of animals she draws from to depict herself evolves. I suggest that Carrington’s horse is more broadly significant as a narrative model that she adapts later in her career and that Carrington’s use of bird iconography emerges as a new form to symbolize other “rebirths” or periods of transition in her life, such as motherhood and aging. This thesis includes an analysis of Carrington’s late sculptural work, heretofore largely ignored within art historical study. The primary research conducted on these objects was accomplished during my residency at Casa Estudio: Leonora Carrington in Mexico City.
Recommended Citation
Lesar, Claire, "Representing Motherhood and Aging in Leonora Carrington's Bird Iconography" (2022). All ETDs from UAB. 125.
https://digitalcommons.library.uab.edu/etd-collection/125