In Her Own Image: Women's Self-Representation in 20th Century Art

This book examines the lives and works of ten pioneering female artists over the last century whose self-representational art challenged the cultural presuppositions and gender stereotypes of their time, while opening up a vista on the feminine experience. Each of the artists - Kathe Kollwitz, Claude Cahun, Charlotte Salomon, Frida Kahlo, Carolee Schneemann, Hannah Wilke, Ana Mendieta, Adrian Piper, Cindy Sherman, and Orlan - used her art to overcome personal tragedy and trauma, so her work is in simultaneous and dramatic dialogue with both her social world and her personal history. "In Her Own Image" extends the dialogue between feminism and art history, while developing a psychoanalytic examination of women's self-representation. The author analyzes the work and life of each of these artists and shows how their art illuminates and advances the way women relate to their bodies - to beauty, sexuality, motherhood, relationships, race, aging, sickness, loss, and death. Their art reflects profound changes in woman's evolving self-awareness while it explores the transcendent possibilities of the female psyche and its creative potential for healing. Danielle Knafo is an Associate Professor in the Clinical Psychology Doctoral Program at Long Island University's C. W. Post campus.