The (non) representation of trauma analysis of unnamed painting by the israeli artist orna millo

“The (Non) Representation of Trauma: Analysis of Unnamed Painting by the Israeli Artist Orna Millo,” Jung Journal: culture & psyche, 1:4, 32-42. This article discusses a nameless painting by the Israeli artist, Orna Millo, that the authors call “The (Non) Representation of Trauma.” The painting depicts the psychic representation of trauma in visual form — and at the same time, the impossibility of representing trauma at all. The viewer is made complicit in a scene that he or she cannot understand but nevertheless experiences as traumatizing. The painting is composed of six distinct picture planes, each of which characterizes a distinct aspect of traumatic experience as described by Kalsched. The six picture planes that Millo’s skill has melded into one show dissociation in action along with danger of falling into the abyss and trauma freezing its victims in time. Orna Millo has created a visual and psychological masterpiece that allows us to gaze deeply into the soul and see the (non) representation of trauma.