The Fig Mother 1974

Leonora Carrington made this intriguing image, The Fig Mother, in 1974. Carrington lived in Mexico from 1942 until her death in 2011, becoming a key figure in the country's surrealist movement. Carrington draws on Mexican folk traditions to create an ambiguous image of motherhood, fertility, and ritual. Note how fig leaves sprout from the top of a mask or skull in the upper portion of the composition. Below, a patterned body hosts images of animals and other folkloric figures. The Catholic church’s traditional role in policing images of fertility and female power were under pressure during the 1970s from feminist political movements. Carrington’s surrealist art offered ways to explore female archetypes and the politics of the body in a moment of cultural change. If we want to know more about Carrington's Fig Mother, we must research Mexican Surrealism, women artists, and the politics of the body. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.