The Most Interesting Work I Found Inspired By Diane Arbus

Playwright Itzel Lara explores the artist's pain without buying into the trope of artists having to suffer for their creativity

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In yesterday’s essay, I shared with you some excerpts from people who had written about Diane Arbus’s work. Doing that research, I also came across quite a few other artists whose work has been inspired by Arbus. For example, I shared an excerpt related to disability studies from Kristin Lindgren; her full piece also looked at “contemporary photographer Laura Swanson, who positions her work in relation to that of Arbus.”

Obviously, many photographers have been influenced by her work over time. However, the most interesting piece I came across is actually a play, or rather, what appears to be a trilogy of plays, by Mexican playwright and screenwriter Itzel Lara. Her work and most writing about it is in Spanish, so I’ve combined my not-fluent Spanish language skills with some translation tools what is available in English online to understand her work.

Writing That Captures My Eye

Before we move into that, though, I wanted to share my favorite quote from this writer, which comes from an interview she did with Royal Court Theatre, in which she mentions the Arbus work but doesn’t cite the photographer’s influence by name.

“I like white butterflies and bitter chocolate. I firmly believe that the sea comforts the lungs and I am certain that if you could choose the architecture of your heart, mine would be a theater.”

Beyond The Tortured Artist Trope