Transformation through art: exploring Jung's view of art and the relevance of Charlotte Salomon's Life? or Theater?

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis paper explores Jung's concepts regarding art, the significant role of creativity in his notion of individuation, and art's relationship to transformation. As an illustration, it introduces Charlotte Salomon – a German Jewish artist who was murdered in the gas chambers at Auschwitz in 1943 – and her unique surviving opus, Life? or Theater? – a fictionalized autobiographical play-like work of art combining painted images, written words, and music. Applying Jung's theories as a lens, it broadly analyzes Salomon's work and considers it in light of Jung's distinction between psychological and visionary creative modes. In the process I reveal a potential material connection between Salomon and Jung, and argue that Life? or Theater? is not only artistically but also historically relevant to Jungian theory. By exploring Life? or Theater? in this way, my paper proposes that Jungian theory is a potent critical lens which can reveal a work of art's transformative nature and cultural significance.