When one thinks of Frida Kahlo, they may recall that she was the star of many of her own portraits. However, many may not know as to why she made the creative decisions which made her paintings filled with such emotion. Considered to be one of Mexico’s greatest artists, Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, in Coyocoan, Mexico City, Mexico. Kahlo’s childhood was unique from many her age due to her poor health, she contracted Polio at six years old and did not quite recover back to full health. This was not the only tragedy that marred her life. While attending the renowned National Preparatory School in Mexico City in the year of 1922, Kahlo was the victim of a tragic bus accident that left her with serious spine and pelvis injuries that would affect her both physically and physiologically for the rest of her life. While in her full body cast, she painted her first self-portrait. Kahlo explained her reasoning for choosing the medium of a self-portrait was due to the fact that “I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best". All of Kahlo's creative decision making process was based on her personal introspection of events that happened in her life and what emotions she had been dealing with at the time.
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Henry Ford Hospital, 1932 by Frida Kahlo
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In her famous painting titled Henry Ford Hospital, Frida was reflecting upon her experience of having a miscarriage at Henry Ford Hospital. Surrounding her naked body in the hospital bed are six objects. These objects include a male fetus she and her husband Diego prayed to have, a snail to show how long and arduous the medical procedure had been, and even an orchid to represent a woman’s womb. Kahlo created this painting to process her grief and the feeling of helplessness. Giving birth is one of the most natural processes a woman’s body can go through, but Kahlo had felt betrayed and disconnected from her body when she had lost her child. Much like Kahlo, Nick Cave used his creativity to fully process the loss of his son in 2015. Cave explained that he shifted to his music and spirituality to process the fragility of human life after losing his son, and then years later experiencing the Covid-19 pandemic. The need for a creative medium to understand and process our grief is inherently human, and both artists (despite not starting their journeys incredibly religious) relied on spirituality through the process of creativity.
Sources & Images:
https://apnews.com/article/frida-kahlo-art-mexican-artist-spiritual-fd536219e1348b19b50bc5027bc98bda
https://www.fridakahlo.org/frida-kahlo-biography.jsp
https://www.fridakahlo.org/henry-ford-hospital.jsp
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ReplyDeleteKnowing one's own self is potentially life's greatest challenge. Whether it be deciding where to go to college, what you want to study, or even what you want for dinner, we make thousands of decisions a day that are all us trying to get to know ourselves. Maybe we will try a new food, or travel to a new country, or take a different route home from campus, all in efforts to truly understand the preferences that make us, us. Frida Kahlo mastered the sense of curious familiarity we all feel for ourselves, and channeled it into her self-portraits. She painted herself because it is what she knew best, but much like how we are constantly on journeys of self-discovery, she went through that on canvas. In Rick Rubin's "Creative Act: A Way of Being" he says, "No matter what tools you use to create, the true instrument is you. And through you, the universe that surrounds us all comes into focus." I think this perfectly relates to Frida's art style. While she was painting what she knew of her personal experiences, her pain was relatable to many. People were able to identify their pain through her art, making her the true instrument of clarity.
ReplyDeleteBeing able to process grief through creativity is powerful. The way Kahlo uses art, and in particular the self portrait, is interesting. She uses it as a mode of self refection upon not only herself physically, but also spiritually and emotionally. The image of her unborn child is deeply moving and powerful. It is an image of life, yet also of death. In my focus book there is discussion by Fuentes on creativity and how humanity uses it to process certain aspects of life for the benefit of our own survival and advancement. I think this is the practical side of the coin that Kahlo alludes to in her own work.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your writing style in this post. I think everyone knows the name Frida Kahlo, but not many people know her story, which is an interesting representation of how creatives can become famous and the message of their products becomes overlooked. Your connection to Nick Cave's experience with losing his son made a lot of sense and showed how grief can very powerfully drive the development of creativity and creative work. It seems, at face value, that only painting yourself is self-centered, but in actuality it makes the most sense. How can we truly represent someone else, when we don't know them the way we know ourselves?
ReplyDeleteI really love the connection you made between Frida Kahlo’s creative coping process and Nick Cave’s. I think it is amazing that people can use the creation of art and music to express their grief and pain. Whether you are a painter coping with terrible chronic illnesses or a musician dealing with the death of a loved one, creating is a very human way of processing.
ReplyDeleteI also believe the process of using creation to cope with grief can be deeply connecting and community building. When people create art depicting their struggle with something in their lives, like a health issue or the loss of a loved one, people with similar experiences can see themselves in the art. It is valuable to bond with others based on shared struggle, and I think using art as that connection is beautiful.
Only you know yourself the best, and Frida Kahlo embraced that. She transformed her experiences in life, both positive and negative, into incredible pieces of art. These pieces offer others a glimpse into her life and some of these experiences and feelings she’s felt. While many are familiar with her work, only a handful understand the reasoning behind it. Her self-awareness is truly inspiring. Art and painting were a form of healing for Frida Kahlo, like how music is a form of healing for Nick Cave. The connection between grief and art is powerful, and creativity allows space for the soul and mind to heal.
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