What does it mean for a woman to be a Virgin-spiritually and psychologically-one-unto herself?

For a woman’s individuation to unfold, the archetypal patterns of the Kore arise as “inner necessity.” Georgia O’Keeffe eschewed the cultural conditioning of her times by following the still small voice of her creative inspirations to become who she was. In Jung’s essay, “The Psychological Aspects of the Kore” (CW9i para 306), Jung suggests that the Kore archetype could be a Supraordinate personality or Self figure for women.

The Friday evening lecture will examine these ideas and show how O’Keeffe arrived at creating her own painting style. We will consider her initial intent of creating forms that she felt were particular to the psyche of a woman, a definition she quickly abandoned in order not to be seen exclusively as a woman or woman’s painter. We will consider O’Keeffe’s own words and the evolution of her experimental charcoal drawings of 1915 in her effort to paint as a “Virgin”—spiritually and psychologically—“one-unto-herself.”