Leonora Carrington

I was drawn to Leonora Carrington after reading about her book 'The hearing trumpet', I liked the idea of the book being

• Surreal
• QUIRKY!
• Inquisitive

I began to research into her work and life in order to get a better understanding of Carrington as an author.

• English born, mexican artist, surrealist painter and novelist.
• Founding member of the womans liberation movement 1930's.

EARLY LIFE

• Expelled from two schools due to rebellious behaviour 
• Sent to Florence and attended 'Mrs Penrose's Academy of Art'
• Met German Surrealist artist Max Ernest.
• WWII - Ernest arrested in France for being 'Hostile Alien'
• Carrington fled to Spain, where she had severe anxiety and mental breakdowns/delusional.
• Treated in Spain in the care of a nurse who took her to Lisbon where she sought refuge in the Mexican embassy.

MEXICO

• 1963 created a mural named 'El munro magico de los mayas' and was influenced by folk stories from the region 
• Designed poster for Womens Liberation Movement in Mexico which was personally focused on psychic freedom.

"I PAINTED FOR MYSELF, I NEVER BELIEVED ANYONE WOULD EXHBIT OR BUY MY WORKS."

"I DIDNT HAVE TIME TO BE ANYONES MUSE...I WAS TOO BUSY REBELLING AGAINST MY FAMILY AND LEARNING TO BE AN ARTIST."

MAIN THEMES IN CARRINGTON'S WORK

• The inner psyche and the unconscious mind.
• Cultures and traditions - Mexican/American folk art both play a large role.
• Women and a suggestion of femininity is a theme that is often seen in her works.

WHAT COULD I EXPLORE? 

• I'm intrigued by her surrealist work, it would be interesting to explore her themes and her thought process' in greater detail, looking at how she discovers the unconscious mind.
• I've looked at forms of folk art in the past and really enjoyed the stories and whimsical artwork alongside it.
• Although a slightly darker topic, it would be interesting to explore Carrington's mental breakdown and look into her emotions and feelings behind this after the arrest of her husband at the time.  

 WHAT WOULD I STRUGGLE WITH?

• If I were to choose Carrington as my author of choice I feel that I would struggle with the idea of surrealism. I think the idea of creating work from purely warped reality is a struggle in my mind, it would take a lot for me to overcome this barrier and that would worry my in terms of a time scale and the work that I would be able to produce.
• As she has a lot of artwork herself, alongside being a novelist, I would feel somewhat worried that I would end up creating work in a similar process and method to her own pieces, I really want to step away from this but it would be a struggle already having a visual to go by.

POSSIBLE BOOKS TO EXPLORE

• The Hearing Trumpet 1976
• The House of Fear 1988
• The Strong Door 1977
• The Seventh Horse and Other Tales 1988
• The Oval Lady and Other Stories 1975