Metaphor and Allegory

In our lecture we discussed the use of metaphor and allegory in images, personally i found it very hard to grasp as both metaphor and allegory are very similar to each other. A metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. A allegory is a picture that can be interpreted to reveal hidden meaning. We looked at two pieces by Sarah Lucas, Self-portrait with Fried Eggs (1996) and Au Natural (1994).

Self-portrait with Fried Eggs (1996) is an image that combats the ideas of gender stereotypes by her presenting herself as androgynous. The main metaphor of the image is her fired egg breasts; they are all that prove that she is in fact female. Eggs are often a symbol of life however because they are fried this view is alters, perhaps this is an important representation to Lucas. Her masculine pose and dress sense contrast with the expected views of how a women should be, while the makeshift kitchen floor places her in a realm were the old fashioned idea of a women should be placed.

Au Natural (1994) is a representation of married life consisting of a dirty mattress, an old tin bucket, sagging melons and a stiff cucumber with oranges. The piece removes all glamour making marriage seem depressing and mundane, almost making it seem almost as a life sentence. The objects symbolise sexual organs, both the breasts (melons) and the penis (cucumber) are living fruitful objects, still able to work. Yet the tin bucket symbolises the way in which many women see their genital as they grow older