"FRIDA"

FRIDA KAHLO TRANSFORMED PAIN INTO THE MOST AUTHENTIC FORM OF HER EXPRESSION. AFTER THE SEVERE ACCIDENT THAT MARKED HER BODY, PAINTING BECAME MUCH MORE THAN AN ARTISTIC GESTURE: IT BECAME HER WAY OF SURVIVING, OF TELLING HER STORY AND OF EXISTING.

FOR THIS REASON, HER IMAGE IN THIS WORK IS ACTUALLY BROKEN. THE FRACTURE IS NOT MERELY AN AESTHETIC ELEMENT, BUT A PERFORMATIVE GESTURE THAT SYMBOLICALLY RECALLS THAT SAME BREAK THAT RAN THROUGH HER BODY AND HER LIFE.

THE CRACKS ARE SUBSEQUENTLY REASSEMBLED THROUGH KINTSUGI. GOLD DOES NOT SEEK TO ERASE WHAT HAPPENED, BUT TO MAKE IT VISIBLE. IT BECOMES A SYMBOL OF THE COURAGE TO MOVE THROUGH OUR WOUNDS WITHOUT DENYING THEM, TRANSFORMING THEM INTO PART OF OUR IDENTITY.

UNLIKE MY PREVIOUS WORKS, FRIDA’S FACE IS NOT DEFINED THROUGH TRADITIONAL PAINTING, BUT IS ALLOWED TO EMERGE FROM SUMINAGASHI. THE INK FLOWING ACROSS THE SURFACE OF THE WATER BECOMES A METAPHOR FOR HER INNER WORLD: AN IDENTITY THAT DOES NOT COME FROM CONTROL, BUT FROM THE ABILITY TO ALLOW WHAT WE TRULY ARE TO EMERGE.

Medium and features:

mixed media on reconstructed casting plaster with oil, acrylic, gold leaf and artist- developed reinterpretation of oriental artistic techniques.

Dimensions: 50x70 cm.

The broken icon

FOR ME, SUMINAGASHI REPRESENTS THE OPPOSITE OF CONTROL. JUST AS NO ONE CAN PREDICT THE PATH OF INK ON WATER, IN THE SAME WAY WE CANNOT COMPLETELY CONTROL WHO WE ARE. WE CAN ONLY LEARN TO LISTEN TO IT.

FRIDA DEDICATED HER LIFE TO TELLING HER OWN STORY WITHOUT TRYING TO BECOME SOMETHING ELSE. SHE TRANSFORMED VULNERABILITY INTO LANGUAGE, PAIN INTO BEAUTY, AND HER AUTHENTICITY INTO THE STRENGTH THAT STILL SPEAKS TO THE WORLD TODAY.

FOR THIS REASON AS WELL, HER FACE IS NOT RECONSTRUCTED AS A PERFECT IMAGE. IT IS ALLOWED TO BREATHE THROUGH THE FLOW OF WATER, REMINDING US THAT OUR IDENTITY DOES NOT COINCIDE WITH THE DEFINITIONS OTHERS GIVE US, BUT WITH WHAT WE CHOOSE TO EXPRESS EVERY DAY.

THIS WORK DOES NOT SEEK ONLY TO TELL THE STORY OF FRIDA KAHLO. IT SEEKS TO REMIND EACH OF US THAT OFTEN IT IS PRECISELY THE CRACK WE TRY TO HIDE THAT HOLDS THE MOST AUTHENTIC PART OF OUR VALUE.