The Story Behind: Only One Frida

Close up of 'Only One Frida'

Pigment ink, Chinese ink, Acrylic. April 2013

The Story Behind posts will give some insight into selected works from my portfolio.

Today’s pick of the bunch is my latest work, Only One Frida. It’s a portrait of Frida Kahlo, one of my favourite female artists and greatest inspirations of late.

After studying Frida Kahlo’s painting 'Two Frida’s', where she expresses her feelings of recent divorce to Diego Riveria, I felt inspired to create a drawing in her memory. Hence the title, ‘Only One Frida’.

Frida Kahlo opened a raw window into her world with every brushstroke.  Expressing the painful times in a bold and uncensored approach. I can identify with the need/pleasure she found in creating art when in pain from fractured bones. It's a bit like writing your thoughts down. Once it's on paper you can see it and come to terms with it in your head. For me the ability to make marks on paper enabled me to comprehend and escape the madness of my accident. It's also been an incredibly satisfying experience, creating with the same vigour I had at art school. 

My drawing took around a day complete. Frida’s heart is black as she is no longer with us in body, but the marks surrounding her heart show she still has a heartbeat today.  

That heartbeat certainly reverberates all over the world, you can even find her on postage stamps in the U.S.A.

Viva la Frida!

BLH

Posted April 23, 2013 22:40

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