Frida Kahlo was an early 20th century Mexican artist who endured an incredible degree of physical and emotional pain throughout her short lifetime. She is quoted as saying, "I suffered two grave accidents in my life: one in which a streetcar knocked me down and the other was Diego." (Source) When she was 18, Kahlo suffered serious injuries when the bus she was riding collided with a streetcar. She was left unable to have children and in need of medical care for the rest of her life. She met Diego Rivera when she was 15, and married him in 1928. They divorced in 1938 after what is reported to be a difficult marriage. (Source)
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| Frida Kahlo Without Hope, 1945 |
Kahlo's work, mostly self portraits, is wrought with blatant suffering and pain. That's why I find such relief in looking at her work, though some no doubt find it disturbing. This 1945 painting, Without Hope, is especially demonstrative of Kahlo's life. In this picture, Kahlo has painted herself in a hospital bed with her arms pinned and with tears on her face. The wooden structure over the bed, an easel she had erected so that she could paint while bedridden, holds either that which she has thrown up or that which she is being forced to eat (analysts disagree on that point). I think perhaps it is both. (Source 1, Source 2)
Kahlo was completely unapologetic for the fact that through no direct fault of her own, she suffered without end: an attitude I find immensely respectable, and one I long to imitate. Kahlo bore herself, body and soul, in her paintings exactly as she saw herself. She was infinitely more courageous than I.
Suggested verse to repeat if it's a difficult day is from Psalm 6:2b
PRC buddies, remember to breathe!
"Heal me, O LORD, -------> 5 count inhale
for my bones are troubled." -------> 5 count exhale
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