Both the self-portrait and the bird are motifs that can be traced back to the 1970s in Geta Brătescu's work and appear again and again. In this drawing from 1988, both motifs are united. In her work, the bird also stands for self-liberation - as an artist and as a woman.
"I notice that I am obsessed with the motif of “woman and bird.” What isthe meaning of the bird that flies to the woman and sometimes sits in her lap? When this motif imposed itself on me, I did not wonder about it; I let it do what it will and it proved to be productive. The woman has rounded forms; the bird has jagged forms, culminating in its beak. They are forms that I do not seek, they come into being through the spontaneous gesture of drawing, sometimes with my eyes closed.” (Geta Brătescu, 2008)