KAHLODOSCOPE LOVE
[HEROINES series]
February 2020
Acrylic on canvas
40H x 30 cm
KAHLODOSCOPE LOVE presents the dichotomy of Frida Kahlo’s world as a kaleidoscope, after her self-portrait ‘The Two Fridas’.
Diagnosed with polio as a child, one leg was thinner than the other and Frida suffered from spina bifida which she disguised with long skirts.
When a trolley accident changed her life forever, the medical student turned away from medicine and towards art. The accident broke her spinal column, collarbone, pelvis, ribs and fractured eleven places in her leg, crushed her foot and dislocated her shoulder. Her uterus was pierced by an iron handrail and was later removed. Her recovery was spent in a full body cast where she began to paint on an easel over her bed.
“I paint myself because I am often alone and I am the subject I know best.” Frida painted more than 55 self-portraits where she painted her pain. She suffered from PTSD, bipolar disorder, marital rifts, miscarriages, alcoholism and depression and she attempted suicide several times. Her right leg was amputated at the knee due to gangrene.
Paradoxically, Frida filled her world with vibrant Mexican colour and pattern and she loved to drink, party hard and tell jokes. She was strong, courageous and vulnerable. When she died, cause of death unknown, her husband, Diego Rivera, wrote that it was the most tragic day of his life as he realised far too late how much he loved her.
Available to purchase
Exhibited at FRIDA, MREAM ArtsSpace, 32 Hampstead Road, Maidstone VIC 3012, 14 March – 5 April 2020