Naomi is a PhD candidate in History of Art and the recipient of a Wolfson Foundation Postgraduate Scholarship, allowing her to pursue her research on the photographic works of Dora Maar and their dialogic relationship with surrealism.
Prior to arriving in Edinburgh, Naomi studied for five years at the University of St Andrews – first, for an MA (Hons) in Art History and Classical Studies, and then an MLitt in History of Photography. Her research to date has mainly been concerned with analysing the contributions of women artists to the early 20th century European avant-gardes: her MA and MLitt dissertations discussed, respectively, the theme of desire in the works of Czech surrealist, Toyen; and the relationship between studio and experimental portraiture by female photographers between the wars.
The provisional title for Naomi's PhD thesis is 'Le cadre déborde: the subject, the sensory and the surreal in Dora Maar's photographic works.' Working against the biographical approach that has characterised writing on Maar's life and art to date, it provides a theory-driven analysis of her photographs. In doing so, it seeks to expand the framework within which those works are considered in dialogue with surrealism, as well as locating them within the wider context of photographic modernism.
Naomi is also currently a board member of the Association for Art History's PhD & ECR Network, and is a member of the Dada & Surrealism Research Group led by Edinburgh College of Art.
