During this period of mental despondency, she studied the Jungian theories
of archetypes, the integration of the separated selves, and the world of the
subconscious and dreams. She also worked with a Jungian analyst. Suddenly,
at the age of 42, she began to paint again, starting the most artistically
productive time of her life.33 Oppenheim, during her years of mental crisis,
was preparing for her "breakthrough" to her true self as a woman and as an artist.
Though the idea of the muse was dominated by the male Surrealists, they were
on the wrong track by looking outside of themselves toward the Other in search
of inspiration. The Muse became ultimately more powerful in the lives and art of
the Surrealist women who, especially after their relationships with their male
counterparts ended, became more reliant upon themselves rather than looking
toward the men in their lives as sustenance.34 Hence, the realization of the
Muse within. "The Muse opens up a dialogue with oneself,"35 which allows for
the integration of the self, the inner and outer reality, the many and the whole,
the Muse and the artist.
As women artists continue to hold the Muse as source of energy originating in the
creation of existence as well as living within the cores of themselves, it will be
easier to heal woman's fragmented relationships with the self, the mother, and
other women. Women can begin to mend this break within themselves through
learning the myth, even myth that seems to be based upon patriarchal ideas. By
learning myth, women will gain the power of self-knowledge. By knowing the origin
of her existence, which is a creation of Memory, she lives within the feminine,
determining her own destiny and creating a valid reality. "[By] knowing the myth,
one knows the 'origin' of things and hence can control and manipulate them at will."36
Woman, in revising myths according to her own experience, will move herself from
the role of artistic object toward the role of active creator.37 "By invoking a potent
female Muse the modern woman poet relates her creativity to complex and original
mythic structures."38 This revision of history is, in the words of Adrienne Rich,
"an act of survival"39 for women.
The preservation and documentation of the Surrealist women's work and lives provides
women with a group of role models as pioneers in the reemergence of women's
creative power during a time before the support of women's liberation. By ultimately
reclaiming the Muse for themselves through a process of integrating the split
between the true self and the image of the self that they believed to be desired by
the men in their lives, they moved from being object/Muse of the male artists of
the Surrealist movement toward a realization of the whole self, often resulting in
positive and fulfilling times of artistic production later in their lives. These women
found a glimmer of pre-historical female power in the male-defined Muse, and
followed it back to their own power, the Memory, through psychic "breakthroughs".
It is important for the evolution of feminism for women to acknowledge the existence
of the female power which remains within patriarchal myth,40 reclaim that power,
and incorporate it as part of our true selves. For women artists, acknowledging the
original power of the Muse as source of feminine creativity is a powerful way for
them to reconnect the conflicting aspects that occur within as they work as creators
in a patriarchal society.
Copyright©1998, WellensteinDO NOT reproduce without permission from the author
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