Marisol Escobar`s Oeuvre and the Problem of Self-Identification within the Context of American Art of the 1960`s – 1980`s

This research paper aims to explore Marisol Escobar’s artistic method and put her work within the context of the American art of the 1960s–1980s. Three main chapters of this study include a thorough formal and stylistic analysis of the sculptures created by Marisol in 1961-1984. The thesis also examines the evolution of Marisol's style and defines her approach to the exploration of her own identity. The novelty of this work is explained by the absence of research materials that would highlight several overlooked sculptures and self-portraits created by Marisol in the 1960s and the 1970s. This thesis also captures a variety of attitudes toward the issue of self-identification by analyzing the artworks created by Marisol’s contemporaries: Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Jim Dine, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and other notable artists of the second half of the twentieth century.