The Uncanny Analysis

Introduction

This essay discusses the work of Fiona Rae and Hilma Af Klint in regard to the unconscious, which appears in drips. Sigmund Freud’s essay "the uncanny” will be the key theoretical work to be applied. This essay will be based on the movement surrealism and the technique automatic drawing. This essay will compare and contrast the works of these two artists and how they differ using these techniques. This essay will also discuss how the artists approach the theme the drip and how they let themselves go.

The Uncanny

According to Hal Foster, Sigmund Freud’s uncanny the plot is a return of a particular event. (image or object)”(Foster 1995:7). Freud tells a story about a boy named Nathaniel in his article “the Uncanny”. In the story his father whom he has loved very much dies. One evening his mother used to send him to bed early, cautioning him that the Sand-Man was coming (Freud 1919). The story continues with the mother saying that the sand-man is a horrible man who came when children will not go to bed. The sand man throws sand in the children’s eyes so

This painting can be seen as set in nighttime. She includes five teddy bears in the middle of the painting camouflaged in the background; Rae uses drips on purple tree branches. This is a nice effect because it looks like rain. The purple and white drips look like cobwebs because she uses light colours. The yellow blobs in the painting are like something being almost hidden. This looks like a jungle scene in the night because of the purple and white the drips falling down from each stalk. The title is very expressive because of the words used like wish and happiness. The title sounds very personal as if Rae was telling it to someone she really loved. This quote suggests that it is personal because Rae uses the word “wish you’ This title of her work suggests that she is expressing her emotions. The blue line drops look like