In Bailarin, Leonora Carrington revisits a figure that had appeared in her work since the early 1950s. The dancer is most clearly developed in the 1954 painting Figuras Míticas, Dancer II, where its elongated limbs and dynamic posture give the figure a strong sense of movement. A related form can already be seen in And Then We Saw the Daughter of the Minotaur! (1953), suggesting the gradual development of the motif across Carrington’s practice.
Rather than depicting dance as a conventional performance, Carrington presents the figure as one of the many mythic beings that inhabit her visual world. Its stretched, animated body conveys movement, transformation and a sense of being caught between states.

Created in 2010, the brooch belongs to Carrington’s late jewellery collaborations with the Mexico City sculptor and goldsmith José Sacal. During this period, figures familiar from her paintings and sculpture were reimagined on an intimate scale as wearable objects, with careful attention to contour, relief and fine modelling.
The work was produced in two limited editions: an edition of 10 in gold and an edition of 100 in gold-plated sterling silver, with each piece handmade and set with stones. In this format, Carrington’s characteristic imagery becomes both sculptural and personal, extending her exploration of mythic figures, movement and transformation into an object designed to be worn.