Explain how Frida Kahlo has interpreted her world and experiences.
Frida Kahlo (1910-1954) was a Mexican artist who epitomised self-expression in her paintings, interpreting her world and experiences from unique perspectives. She highlighted pain and suffering in 'The Broken Column', demonstrated the theme of love in 'Memory, The Heart', and explored culture and politics in 'My Dress Hangs There'. These paintings clearly show a relationship between her complex world and the artwork itself. Many of the tragic events that occurred in Frida's life led way to intense feelings and perceptions that are most important to the physical and symbolic understanding of her work.
Painting was the key path for Frida Kahlo to cope with her immense pain and suffering, especially shown in The Broken Colum (1944). At eighteen years old, her spine and pelvis were crushed in a horrific road accident, and she was constricted to a bed and forced to wear a surgical brace. This milestone was only the beginning of many hardships in her life that would remain a catalyst for the subject matter in her paintings like The Broken Column. The reach of her suffering from this event was expressed through tears, exposed organs and bleeding bodies with scars. Although she can vent her emotions through art, Frida’s body remained divided and isolated, thus showing the physical torture which has never left her throughout life: “I don’t even remember how it was before the pain”. Her world was collapsing at this time and could only be held together by a brace and column that fails to support her body. With eyes fixed forward, showing triumph and unrestricted insight into her discomfort, Frida demonstrates her humility and tenacity when all seems lost. Every aspect of her physical life was in ruins, yet Frida found sanctuary in her personal feelings and perceptions drawn out in The Broken Column.
Love was a distorted aspect of Frida's experiences in the world around her, highlighted in the confronting painting, Memory, The Heart (1937). Frida's relationship with her husband, Diego Rivera, was intense and troublesome, revealing his unfaithfulness up until their first divorce in 1940. This painting shows her mis...
