Varo, who “flouted conventional morals” and “conducted affairs” with several men while a married woman, does not fit into the traditional mold of coy femininity. 9), a painting created just a few years before her untimely death at fifty, is perhaps a look back at her stultifying marriage. Both of these animals reveal opposing, but equally powerful, aspects of her creativity. On the other hand, the birds in Varo’s art are metaphors for the higher mental processes involved in flights of inspiration and the mastery of artistic execution. As the consummate witches’ familiar, the cat has always been associated with the sinister, rebellious and feral. Since Varo identified deeply with occult traditions and witchcraft, it is no surprise that cats play a significant role in her iconography. In the case of both animals, Varo alternately depicts them as familiar companions or in some process of hybridization. The animals with the greatest significance in Varo’s art are cats and birds. According to her biographer, Luis-Martin Lozano, “She embraced a conscious revolution that allowed her to question the status quo, challenge the rules…Through Surrealism, everything kept emotionally hidden could now be revealed.” Like her good friend Carrington, Varo coded these revelations in a visual language that incorporated animal avatars as emotional doubles.

Remedios Varo’s powerfully feminist work uses Surrealist imagery to upend stereotypical ideas of feminine powerlessness.

Unexpected Journeys by Janet A. Kaplan