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• June 25, 2008
• Screen Shot

Wild Woman: Maya Deren's Unbound Style

By Sarah Maher

Maya Deren was a Russian-born avant-garde filmmaker, choreographer, poet, voodoo enthusiast, writer and photographer in the 1940s and early 1950s. One could say she was, "well rounded". A founding member of the New American Cinema she quipped, "I make my pictures for what Hollywood spends on lipstick." Anyone who's watched a double feature of her no-budget art-house chestnuts followed by a Joan Crawford spectacle would have to agree. Vivacious, intellectual, energetic, and by no means a classic all-American beauty, Maya Deren explored the world's complexities as a 1940's flower child with a directional, timeless style.

In her black-and-white, silent 1944 film, "At Land", Deren's movements are sultry and free as she climbs dead tree trunks, crawls across fancy dinner tables, plays chess by the sea or runs over sand dunes in a nomadic adventure. Busy woman that Maya. A bohemian glamourpuss, barefoot with wild hair and wilder exotic eyes, she uses dance to become a living dream with an artistic abandon that was well ahead of anything else on the big screen.



Deren's cool sensuality is aided by her European-influenced handmade clothing. At the time, styles—especially those for women—were restrictive and narrow. Your grandmother probably has fond memories of white gloves and silk stockings, but not the binding hourglass silhouettes, corsets and padded shoulders that dominated from the 30s onto the 50s. In "At Land", Deren's soft fabric sundress, which displays her body's movement beneath, is the exact opposite of the 40s screen siren wardrobe. Open and loose, her simple garments expresses a liberated sensuality, instead of a smoldering one, through basic, sophisticated lines and geometric detailing. Sure, it's a bit sexy—but to the avant garde, sexy is never the point.



If you are busy this summer being a ritualistic visionary and prefer not to look too schlumpy, we suggest trading in your flip flops and donning a pair of Eileen Shields for Maria Cornejo slash-flats. Then head on over to Ludlow 38 gallery where you can see more liberated sensuality at the Bless temporary store through July 13.

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