"Payment Received"
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Exhibition TextThis piece is meant to represent who I am as a person. For as long as I can remember I have always been a person to lend out a helping hand, however this has really bit me in the butt. I go out of my way to help people no matter how hard the task may be but I never ask for anything in return. This has really hurt in me in many ways, people have taken advantage of how helpful I am and knowing that I still give out my help. To be quite literal, some people have at some point taken out my heart and have not put it back in its place. I give so much of myself to others but I expect nothing from them. This piece is meant to show I am weak as a person. For my inspiration, Frida Kahlo really inspired me. Within the Figural Expressionism movement, it was very common for artists to believe that figural painting was still at the time, very important and that their artworks should communicate a deeper truth beyond surface appearance.
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"The Broken Column" by Frida Kahlo
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For my last and final project for this semester, I had chosen to do the triptych. For this project I wanted it to be the most important artwotk that I have created within this year. I wanted this piece to really show who I am as a person: someone who puts others needs before herself without getting anything in return. Although, Frida did not believe she belonged in any art movement, her works straddles many different movements (Surrealism, Figural Expressionism and Magic Realism)Within the Figural Expressionism movement, it was very common for artists to believe that figural painting was still at the time, very important and that their artworks should communicate a deeper truth beyond surface appearance. The majority of Frida's works were self portraits, often placing herself in magical or fantastical landscapes, while other portraits open her body wide to display female internal organs or the horrific medical issues she experienced throughout her lifetime. In almost all of her work, she is dressed in traditional Mexican clothing and her artistic style has roots in her heritage, folk art, and Catholicism. All of her work focused on themes of feminism, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion and menstruation.
I was really awestruck by the way Frida was able to capture herself in a way that shows how she really sees herself within her piece "The Broken Column ".The Broken Column was painted shortly after Frida had undergone surgery on her spinal column. The operation left her bedridden and “enclosed” in a metallic corset, which helped to the intense pain she suffered from. In the painting she is depicted standing in the middle of a completely arid, cracked landscape. Her torso is encased in metal belts lined with fabric that provide pressure and support for her back. They help to prevent her body from collapsing, a possibility which is announced by the image running down the middle of her torso. There a completely fractured Ionic column on the point of collapse has replaced her spinal column. Frida’s head rests on the capital. Although her face is bathed in tears, it doesn’t reflect a sign of pain. The attitude she presents is the one she always showed to life itself: strong and defiant to the viewer. The nails piercing her body are a symbol of the constant pain she faced. The largest ones, along the column, mark the damage caused by the accident in 1925, while those adhering to her left breast refer rather to an emotional pain, to her feeling of solitude. When asked once why she so often portrayed herself in her works, Frida replied that it was because she was always alone and because she herself was what she knew best. |