A study on Elsa Schiaparelli and Salvatore Dali

Schiaparelli and Dali had a shared need to explore metaphysical and mystical realms. They met in Paris in the volatile ‘30s, and their work rejected and reflected the terrors of real life. They used surrealism as a vehicle of horror and also a fantastical escape, pushing and pulling between natural and industrial forms, crafts and mixed media, liberation, and restraint. In its essence, the method of surrealism is collage, and to revel in contradiction, so they mixed high and low materials, creating real-world objects of desire.