Abstract

SOUZA, Carolina de  and  SANTOS, Manoel Antônio dos. Figurations of the Mother-Baby Relationship in Felícia Leirner's Sculptures: A Winnicottian Look. Rev. Subj. [online]. 2021, vol.21, n.2, pp.1-13. ISSN 2359-0769.  https://doi.org/10.5020/23590777.rs.v21i2.e11411.

In the early stages of emotional development, the mother can reach such a heightened level of sensitivity that she can adapt to the baby's primary needs. This special maternal state often serves as an inspiration for artistic production when the artist's aesthetic experience is put at the service of his creative power, which is embodied in the creative act. Based on these premises, this study aims to illustrate the singularities of the mother-infant relationship in the beginnings of emotional development through the reading of the work of art through the vertex of Winnicott's psychoanalytic theory, considering the place that art can have in human life. Five sculptures by artist Felícia Leirner compose the corpus of analysis. These works of art metaphorize the development path of the relationship between mother, father, and baby in the wake of the temporal flow that characterizes the first months of development. We also identified in artistic objects the relevance of the environment in the initial stage as a platform for healthy emotional growth throughout life. Instead of using psychoanalytic understanding for the exegesis of artistic work, we propose the inverse movement, in which it is the work that contributes to illuminating psychoanalytic thinking, highlighting nuances that can enrich the understanding of one of the founding themes of Winnicottian theory, child emotional development, suggesting new possibilities of approximation between psychoanalysis and art.

Keywords : mother-infant relationship; maternity; art; creativity; Winnicott.

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