PROJECT
FEATURE ARTICLE
SUZY BIRSTEIN
Leonora Carrington: Her Story Told In Clay
– ABOUT THE PROJECT
Master ceramicist Suzy Birstein invests her figurative sculptures of iconic females with narrative potential – each piece can be read as a story, or feverdream, unspooling around the central figure. For her sculpture, The Debutante, After Leonora Carrington, Birstein has wrought an intriguing tribute to one of her seminal influences, the British-born, Mexico-adopted surrealist provocateur Leonora Carrington. Birstein is a storyteller writing out her visions in clay. This piece is exceptional, as is Birstein’s talent. It’s always a pleasure to do a project with Suzy and listen to her great travel stories.
“In Birstein’s The Debutante (2024), Carrington is represented as an icon of female agency, mythological symbolism and narrative power. Raised on a pedestal of what appear to be moulded shark teeth, wreathed in her own cosmology, Carrington becomes a beguiling force fired by Birstein’s veneration. e.”
– Barry Dumka
FEATURE ARTICLE
SUZY BIRSTEIN
Leonora Carrington: Her Story Told In Clay
Leonora Carrington – the British-born master surrealist – is the subject of Suzy Birstein’s figurative sculpture The Debutante (2024) and the locus for exploring female narrative potency. Carrington is a piquant subject and Birstein’s title is telling. Born into a wealthy textile family in 1917, as a young woman, Carrington – rather than debuting into Edwardian society – rebelled against her family and social strictures. At a London party, she met the German Surrealist Max Ernst – he was 46 and well-respected and she was 20 fresh out of art school – and moved with him to France. They never married but surrealism took root in her imagination. When the Nazis invaded Paris, Ernst was arrested and Carrington endured a psychological breakdown and was institutionalized by her father against her will. She orchestrated her own escape and then quickly married the Mexican Ambassador to France allowing her to flee to Mexico City. There, Carrington’s art bloomed like a fever dream featuring fantastical creatures, occult symbolism and female energy rising like a white goddess. Her guardian animals were a hyena and a horse, representing rebellion and her means of escape.
In Birstein’s The Debutante (2024), Carrington is represented as an icon of female agency, mythological symbolism and narrative power. Raised on a pedestal of what appear to be moulded shark teeth, wreathed in her own cosmology, Carrington becomes a beguiling force fired by Birstein’s veneration. All of Birstein’s figurative sculptures riddle out a story told through symbols, ornamentation and embellishments. Here the modelling of the horses, both wedded to the figure and raised in bas-relief jumping free of an open window (positioned by Birstein like an open heart), are a reference to Carrington’s only self-portrait, Inn of The Dawn Horse. And the bird nesting in the elaborate headdress is Birstein’s own spirit guardian, a feathered angel of mercy. Birstein’s piece has a profound presence. And like the ancient Greek korai (a form Birstein has studied), this sculpted figure has both a regal demeanor and a rebel spirit. She appears at once ravaged and ravishing. And fully occupying her own narrative space.
- Barry Dumka
© Barry Dumka/BCREATIVE CONSULTING
Our Services
Copywriting + Ghost Writing
What you say matters.
BCreative Consulting provides our clients a wide range of written and ghostwritten material to achieve their messaging goals. The key is to write with an audience in mind. Emotion, authenticity and storytelling all play a part in capturing the attention and loyalty of others.
For artists, personal brands and small businesses, the story of their creative individuality - the vital core of their identity - is a powerful opportunity to connect what they do with others. Your audience wants to be informed and inspired. Go at it with gusto.
Content Creation + Marketing
What you share matters.
BCreative Consulting works with our clients to shape the image and stories they share in this social media-fuelled marketing age. Digital storytelling is one of the most effective methods for growing audience engagement, developing your brand presence and driving sales. Compelling content earns you stature, inspires trust and stokes curiosity and loyalty. But you have to think about your audience as much as yourself. Still, even the most personal stories can have universal appeal. Be relatable and be inspiring.
Art Consulting + Event Curation
What others experience matters.
BCreative provides art consulting and event curation services for select projects to create aesthetically appealing and client-focused experiences. With extensive art consulting and project management experience for residential, commercial and hospitality projects throughout North America, we know the vision and strategic choices necessary to create exceptional art collections. Sales-focused creative events also require strategic planning and a purposeful vision. To create lasting value, it's essential to make a beautiful first impression.
QUESTIONS?
As a freelance creative consultancy, BCreative Consulting gets involved in many unique projects specific to the needs of our clients. We enjoy insightful conversations, positive client relationships and heralding the authentic meaning and value at the core of all creative efforts. It’s a powerful opportunity – and a great challenge – to inspire an audience. And we love being part of that process.
Do you have a project that needs some strategic help? Or a good story?