Background
In the novel Lolita, the young girl that is at the center of the story is given many different nicknames by the narrator (her false father and abuser), Humbert Humbert. Each of these nicknames are aligned with a different version of the character that he bestows upon her. In my title for this zine “The Faces of Dolores Haze”, I decided to use Dolores Haze because it is her government name, chosen by her mother, which strips Dolores of any associated identity that Humbert Humbert forces onto her, which would ultimately give him more power.
I have used art solely by Margaret Keane to display my own interpretations of these “faces” of Dolores. Keane is famous for her paintings of women and children with large, tearing eyes, which for ten years her husband claimed credit for. This fits perfectly with my vision of Dolores as a person who is forever scarred by the pain through which she has suffered. In the 1970s, only twenty years after the time in which Lolita is set, Margaret Keane was able to reclaim her work. She was able to find a form of salvation where Dolores wasn’t. This zine is a tribute to the tragedies within both of these women’s lives, fictional or real.
Painting Title: The First Grail
“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock”
was Lola in slacks”
Painting Title: Grant Avenue
“She
Painting Title: The Reluctant Ballerina
“She was Dolly at school”
Painting Title: Beach Bums II
“She was Dolores on the dotted line”
