Abstract
In this article we propose to take up the question of the painter’s work in connection with liminality more explicitly. We will argue that the limen Varo’s heroines cross is a psychological one that takes them through a process culminating in a rebirth of the self, and that to the extent they are in-between identities and involved in a process of initiation, they can be considered liminars (Turner). We will also argue that in order to develop this theme, which culminates in her most autobiographical work, the triptych Bordando el manto terrestre (1961-62), the artist needed to find a way conceptually to bridge surrealism and her interest in mysticism. She would have found a sympathetic approach in Jung, one of the founders of psychoanalysis who turned explicitly to the question of religion in the troubled thirties, though, as we shall see, she revised his androcentric approach. We will suggest that Jung’s writing helped the artist make a transition from surrealism to esoteric spirituality.This article was published open access under a CC BY license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Highlights
In this article we propose to take up the question of the painter’s work in connection with liminality more explicitly
Throughout her work, Varo presents an archetypal seeker or wayfarer, interpreting his or her goals and vehicles as archetypal as well, as she draws on a range of esoteric symbols from a variety of sources, including alchemy, Symbolist poetry, classical myth, and a syncretic mixture of sacred texts of the East and West, from the gospels to Tao
By documenting the works which would have been available to Varo we will be in a position to answer the question that is implicit in a significant body of criticism, which discusses the theme of quest in psychological or esoteric terms but has so far lacked a way to weave these strands together
Summary
In this article we propose to take up the question of the painter’s work in connection with liminality more explicitly. We wish to look at how the inner journey continues an early surrealist motif in her work and, secondly, we want to propose, in our lead-up to an analysis of the triptych Bordando del manto terrestre, that the inner journey can be read as the story – built up retrospectively – of a hoped-for initiation into esoteric wisdom (and all that this promises).
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