Spectres, Shreds, Subversions. Matrixial Readings of Francesca Woodman’s Photography
Spectres, Shreds, Subversions. Matrixial Readings of Francesca Woodman’s Photography

Author(s): Anna Kisiel
Subject(s): Social Sciences, Language and Literature Studies, Gender Studies, Fine Arts / Performing Arts, Photography, Visual Arts, Psychoanalysis, Theory of Literature
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego
Keywords: Francesca Woodman; Bracha L. Ettinger; matrixial theory; feminist criticism; psychoanalysis; photography
Summary/Abstract: The monograph is devoted to the oeuvre of the American photographer Francesca Woodman (1958–1981). The approach proposed by the author is grounded upon Bracha L. Ettinger’s matrixial theory. This theory turns out to be a particularly valuable perspective in the context of Woodman, whose works are usually read through the prism of the young artist’s death by suicide. Ettinger’s thought paves the way for affirmative interpretations of Woodman’s photographs, placing emphasis on such tropes as proximity, fragility, becoming, and encounter. Treating Woodman as a matrixial woman-artist, the book aims at investigating selected motifs found in her art: death, music, spectrality, angels, and voice.

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