Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo: Cultural Complexes and the Redemptive Power of the Abjected Feminine - Paperback

by Dennis Pottenger (Author), Rebecca Pottenger (Editor)

Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo offers a depth psychological analysis of the art and life of Remedios Varo, a Spanish surrealist painter. The book uses Varo's paintings in a revolutionary way: to critique the patriarchal underpinnings of Jungian psychology, alchemy, and Surrealism, illuminating how Varo used painting to address cultural complexes that silence female expression.

The book focuses on how the practice of alchemical psychology, through the power of imagination and the archetypal Feminine, can lead to healing and transformation for individuals and culture. Alchemy, Jung, and Remedios Varo offers the first in-depth psychological treatment of the role alchemy played in the friendship between Varo and Leonora Carrington--a connection that led to paintings that protest the pitfalls of patriarchy.

This unique book will be of great interest for academics, scholars, and post-graduate students in the fields of analytical psychology, art history, Surrealism, cultural criticism, and Jungian studies.

Author Biography

Dennis Pottenger is a Jungian-oriented psychotherapist and award-winning literary journalist based in the USA.

Rebecca Livingston Pottenger is a licensed psychotherapist, feminist scholar, and adjunct faculty member at Pacifica Graduate Institute, USA.