Where is Frida Kahlo from? Where did she grow up? What time period?
Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico City, Mexico (Making her a Cancer just like me! Aaa sorry, I don't think anybody cares haha.) Anyway she was born around the time the Mexican Revolution occurred (1910-1920). Frida grew up in a village in the outskirts of Mexico, referred as the Blue House or Casa Azul. She had three sisters, two older ones and one younger sibling. If she were to describe her childhood memories using only 3 words she would say it was rather “very,very,sad”. Due to her mother being a calculating, cruel, and a very hardcore religious person. Her mother was very tense to her and her siblings, to the point where her oldest sister, Matilde, ran away from her family for several years. She also had to deal with both of her parents often becoming sick, until she was sick herself with polio. This caused her to be bedridden for nine months. When she “recovered”, the aftermath of her sickness left her damage in her right leg and foot, making her limp when she walked. To aid her recovery her father encouraged her to play many sports that mainly male only played at the time, such as soccer, swimming, and even wrestling.
What happened in her life that was significant? Memorable?
Throughout her life she went through many pains, both physically and mentally. On September 17, 1925, when she was 18, Frida was riding a bus that then collided with a trolley car. An iron handrail pierced her abdomen and her uterus. Making her suffer several injuries such as a broken collarbone, a broken spinal column, ribs and pelvis, a crushed and dislocated shoulder and foot, and eleven fractures in her right leg. Once she recovered she had to wear a full body cast for three months. She was physically broken, but not mentally. Frida then started painting, she realized her potential for painting using herself. Her first piece was a self-portrait, due to her being a “subject she knows best". This incident unfortunately shaped most of her life, but she transformed her pain into passion on the canvas. While so many women are depicted as the victim, Frida demonstrates that pain is an intrinsic part of life that does not define us.
What is the overall meaning of her artwork?
Kahlo’s work was made up of her traumatic psychological and physical events that she experienced throughout her life. One of the major events being her accident and the infidelity of her husband, Diego Rivera. Her paintings were categorized as surrealistic because of her bizarre and disturbing themes, that often showed her suffering.
