Be reborn. Freedom without hesitation.

Untitled work, Dora Maar - 1934
Be reborn. Open freedom, Personal interpretation - 2022

Reinterpretation of the untitled work (Hand-Shell) by Dora Maar (1907-1997) for the “Change the museum 3” contest organized by @zmuseos @juventudzaragoza

To make my own interpretation of Dora Maar’s work, I wanted to go further and deepen the symbology of this work from my feelings.

Dora Maar’s work conveys to me the need for liberation of a woman who suffers from the stereotypes marked by society and her “sweet-monstrous” feeling about what it feels like to be a woman.

A MANNEQUIN WOMAN’S HAND, symbol of an object woman, static, with a good presence and always in a pose, who does not speak… It tries to come out of a SHELL, which for me represents home; the house in tow. Always carry household loads with you. And all in the middle of a gray day with a marked backlight that expresses the drama of the situation. Lights and shadows.

For this reason, my version shows a liberated woman, from stereotypes and social burdens. A woman who has been reborn and has cut what united her to what did not let her advance; what they imposed on her for being a woman.

She walks naked towards a sky that is less and less gray and through which rays of light appear. >> The hope of living in equality, with freedom.<<

In the end, Dora was one of the most representative photographers of surrealism, but two things must be taken into account:

1- She was known for being a partner of Picasso.

2-We study Picasso in class, not her.

It seems clear, right? Good that.