Herstories.docx

Arts 1 – H The artworks exhibited in the venue were all outstanding but the one that piqued my interest the most was the “The Beauty Within” which was painted acrylic on canvas with a dimension of 36” x 24”. This painting piqued my interest because the body was made covered with flowers and her eye had a butterfly on top of it which were very unusual making the painting unique. The flowers were intricate in details even the direction towards her neck was astounding. The background complements the foreground in a dark but beautiful way. The focus of the artwork was said to be Frida Kahlo, one of Mexico’s greatest artist who had a unique life due to her serious injury which caused her to be bedridden. Frida Kahlo is best remembered for her self-portraits, pain and passion, and bold, vibrant colors. Life experience is the common theme in Frida’s 143 paintings. In my opinion the original purpose of this painting may be to empower women that despite their tragic happening in life, they may succeed it in as long as one has the willpower to do so. Frida Kahlo was known to have a lot of challenges throughout her life starting with her suffering of polio when she was just a child and later, the bus tragedy which led to her being bedridden most of her life. The painting invites the audiences that beauty lies within the person not just on the physical aspect. It also shows that being different is also the reason why one is beautiful. In the painting there are different kind of flowers which were used to cover the body of Frida which I think were the artists’ way of portraying beauty despite Frida being differently abled due to her accident. This goes to show that even though most of her bodily functions below are no longer functional, beauty still lies within. This is true for the butterfly in her eye as well which I think tells the audience that beauty is still seen by the persona even after all the challenges she had went through. The subject of the painting is easily seen because of the placement but it is also important to take note of the background which has a dark thundery theme. This background invites the readers to feel the sadness or awe that during a sinister event, one can still create something beautiful, Frida being the one that is beautiful in the painting. The transition of the flowery body from the neck was also important to show that she is still the same person even after having a differently abled body. The important parts remain, and those parts too are beautiful. The painting may be similar to one of Frida Kahlo’s works entitled “The Broken Column” wherein she wishes to express triumph over the difficulties she had went through. “The Beauty

Within” is similar to the “The Broken Column” in a way that the two are surreal paintings and both are showcasing the beauty of Frida Kahlo. Beauty in the challenges laid by life upon the artist made her who she is known for today. Upon careful analysis the artwork may be considered as an art for commemoration to Frida Kahlo. It may be to remember and show respect to the great Frida Kahlo especially for her paintings portraying life experiences. For the analysis of the artwork, the flowers used were all different to one another. They may be similar but none of them were drawn the same as another. One flower used in the body was the Mexican morning glory which is a delicate annual vine with beautiful flowers that come in a range of hues in blue, pink and white and are native only to Mexico, the place where Frida lived. On the upper left part of the body is a flower also native in Mexico called Mexican frangipani which is a flower known for their unique fragrant clusters of colorful, bright, waxy and long-lasting flowers. In addition to the flowers that I can recognize is the laelia orchid on the right side of Frida’s chest which is a beautiful fragrant flower. There are implied lines to form the body outline of the persona. The artwork has a closed form since with the use of lines, the form of Frida is defined in space, implying a solid mass. The work gives the appearance of mass because of the lines that follow the curvature of the head and body. In terms of spatial depth there is an implied depth to give dominance for the character of Frida while also having the thunderous aspect as the background. The perspective employed in the artwork is that of the atmospheric or aerial perspective wherein the illusion of depth is created with the changing of color, value and detail. The dominance of the light colors in the artwork gave the effect of depth with the dark color being the background. There is no implied motion with regards to the persona however in view of the background it can be seen that there is an implied motion for the lightning behind Frida. In terms of unity and variety I see a sense of oneness wherein the subject and the background blends beautifully. However, in my opinion, I think it would have been better if the lower left background had a dark blue that looked like the sea rather than being too black which gave the impression of nothingness instead of the sea. Patterns were evident in the overlapping flowers. The painting had an asymmetrical balance in which dramatic imbalances are held in check. Warm colors such as the flowers tend to advance towards the viewer, while cool colors tend to recede. The warm color is visually heavier than the cool color because it seems closer to

the viewer. The emphasis or focal point in the artwork is the person itself while the subordination is the lightning behind the person. The directional force in the artwork starts from the body of Frida working its way up to the neck and ultimately leading to the eye with a butterfly on top. In terms of contrast, the skin and clouds are evident wherein the face of Frida is light while the underside of her face and neck seem to be darker as if showing focus towards the face of Frida. Clouds have this feeling of rainy-thundery like mood. Distortion is also evident which may be to show chaos amidst the lighting. The rhythm in the artwork is the lightning which visually expresses a strong feeling of sadness. The subject occupies a huge space in the canvas in order to provide emphasis on the character while only having the background as a complement. The artwork is of modern style and uses abstraction; it also employs surrealism. In using the expressive theory in the artwork, one can say that the main purpose is really to empower women having a differently abled body. The improvisation of the flowers to depict a differently abled body was a terrific choice because flowers by itself is beautiful implying that the difference is also beautiful. The use of the butterfly was also fitting because it portrays beauty. It was on the eye of the subject to give the impression that one can still view the world as beautiful despite the differently abled body which hinders a person to do a lot of things. Social and psychological identity are present in the artwork. Social in a way that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, which in this case is, differently abled is also beauty. Psychological in a way that one should have a positive view even when faced with a lot of challenges. References: Frida Kahlo and her paintings. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.fridakahlo.org Choudhury, S. (2018, January 29). Glorious Flowers that are Native to Mexico. Retrieved from: https://gardenerdy.com/glorious-flowers-native-to-mexico-with-pictures