Dora Carrington how did she cope through her sexuality?

Dora Carrington 1893-1932 was an English painter and decorative artist, she mainly remembered mainly due to being part of the Bloomsbury Group association. She suffered with her sexuality and had an affair with Henrietta Bingham as well as having a relationship with writer Gerald Brenan, Bloomsbury was a name commonly used to identify a circle of intellectuals and artists who lived in Bloomsbury near central London, in the period 1904–1940.

This created tension on coping with her emotions, in her diary she wrote: “She is odd from her mixture of impulse & self-consciousness. I wonder sometimes what she is at: so eager to please, conciliatory, restless, & active…. But she is such a bustling eager creature, so red & solid, & at the same time inquisitive, that one can’t help liking her.” This was based on how she was not coping with her sexuality at the time and covering it up instead. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Carrington

In 1921 she then married Ralph Partridge although this was not for love but to hold the ménage à trois together, although in 1926. Ralph began having an affair with Frances Marshall and soon went to live with her in London. The affair energized Carrington’s artistic creativity, and she also collaborated with Penrose on the making of three films. However, Penrose wanted Carrington exclusively for himself, a commitment she refused to make because of her love for Strachey. The affair, her last with a man, ended when Carrington became pregnant and had an abortion.

During her lifetime, her work received no critical attention. The lack of inspiration may have kept her from displaying her artwork. Her work can be portrayed as progressive since it did not fit into the typical of art in England at the point in time.

In fact, her work was not considered art at all. It featured Victorian-style pictures which were made from coloured tinfoil and paper. Carrington included pen sketches in letters to her friends, with the intention of entertaining them. She also created woodblock prints, which were highly regarded. Her lesser-known work included painted pub signs and murals, ceramics, fireplaces, and tin trunks. Reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dora_Carrington