Frida Kahlo is a very famous Mexican woman. She is known for being one of the most popular Mexican artist. She was known to make paintings of herself. She would create many different styles of paintings always with her face. Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907. She lived in a small town near Mexico City. She did not have a lavish life, but yet ended up being very famous. She has been also known for being able to speak her mind. She was never afraid to speak out in what she believed in. She lived a life of pain due to an accident that occurred at the age of 19 that crippled her. Creating art was a way for her to deal with her struggles in life. Frida Kahlo once said, “ I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best’ (1).
She used painting as a way to pass by time and distract herself from how she struggling in life through physical and mental difficulties. She was supported by her family once they first realized her talent. During her time in prep school, she met another well known person named Diego Rivera. He was also known for his very famous art. She looked up to this man not knowing that later in the future they were going to be in a relationship.she decides to get married to the man she had the most common interests with. Diego Rivera was an influencer to her and he helped her on some of her work.
Frida Kahlo’s paintings were influenced through her life experiences. They can range from very negative experiences to positive experiences. She would paint her life and send messages of what she went through. This was a way for Frida Kahlo to vent and express they she felt about her experiences it was also a way for her to express her opinion and strong will.
One of her first of many paintings that is really popular is called Henry Ford Hospital (1932). Through this painting she describes some of her past experiences. They are not pleasant memories but they were her own and she felt she should express what she sees herself as. She was going through a difficult time while she painted this. It was the time where she just went through two miscarriages already. The painting is of her lying down in a hospital bed naked. She would paint objects near her relating to the experiences she had in that painting. It helped the viewer of the painting and what she was trying to portray in her painting.
Her painting could have been interpreted however the viewer sees it but as she adds the objects next to herself it adds even more meaning of what she is feeling in the painting. Her expressions on the painting show if her memory was a negative one or positive even though she empowers through each and every one. Details are important for her to get her point across and express her feelings through the painting. The painting shows her bleeding and how graphic it is. She shows how painful it is mentally and physically going not just one but two miscarriages. This painting shows how one is ashamed to reveal a miscarriage but still stays strong to face the truth.
You can see this by the way the whole painting is angled how she wants the viewers to focus on her expression on her face other than the way the miscarriage looks. Frida Kahlo did paintings her own way through some influence from her husband but mainly influenced by how she expressed herself. She was a strong opinionated woman in her time and was not afraid to express her feelings through her work. She made many paintings that related to her life starting from when she was a kid to when she is a full grown adult and attempting to start a family with her husband Diego Rivera.
