Femina #3 Frida Kahlo by Cindy Brendzel

Frida Kahlo

For the 20 Perspectives Femina series I found my inspiration in the artistic renderings of iconic females of other eras.  This time I was drawn to a self-portrait by the celebrated Mexican artist Freida Kahlo.  Among other things she is known for her many self-portraits, and I found one of them in New York City’s Museum of the Modern Art.  In this small painting, “Fulang Chang and I” she has a neutral expression as she looks directly the viewer.  She is holding her pet monkey Fulang Chang, and they are surrounded by a natural setting.  I decided to reinterpret this view of herself. 

Frida Kahlo has long been an inspiration to me.  Throughout her life she was physically frail due to chronic illnesses and a terrible accident as a teenager.  But her ambition was to be an artist and she would not let anything keep her from her life’s passion.  She embraced her indigenous Mexican culture and used its symbolism and bold colors in her art.  She wore the traditional feminine Tehuana dress and flower headdress of her region, but she lived by her own rules. Her marriage to artist Diego Rivera was unconventional to say the least. She was bold and courageous in everything she did. 

She died young at the age of 47.  I like to think, if she was alive today, even through the pain she would strap on a helmet and take off on a motorcycle.  And she would take Fulang Chang with her.