±«ÓãÖ±²¥

Eileen Agar worked prolifically throughout the 20th century in painting, collage, photography and sculpture. The silhouette of a head, or heads in this instance, became a leitmotif for Agar from the early 1930s, frequently composed of collaged materials relating to the work’s subject. Agar was also interested in subverting the contemporaneous Surrealist treatment of women artistically and politically, speaking openly of her disavowal of traditional gender roles. In Dual Identity, we see three profiles collaged with different patterned and textured papers against a painted blue background. Across the profile are seven small cut-out images of porcupines, as well as leaves, stems of plants, and the outline of a bird. Led by the eclectic mix of imagery, materials and patterns — and the works title — this portrait speaks to the multiplicity of the artists techniques to depict the self, and her disinterest in identifiable embodiment.