Las Dos Fridas
“Las Dos Fridas” (The Two Fridas) is a double self portrait, depicting two versions of Frida Kahlo: one wearing a white Victorian dress and the second wearing a traditional Tejuana outfit. Set against a stormy sky, one Frida has a gaping wound in her chest and is bleeding from a cut vein onto the pristine white fabric, the other grasps a photo of Diego Rivera, with whom Kahlo maintained a tumultuous relationship for her entire adult life. Both are inextricably linked by veins that wrap around their arms, sharing life-giving blood. There are different interpretations as to what exactly the piece means. Is it a reference to Kahlo’s constant pain and countless surgeries? Her relationship with Rivera? Her mixed heritage, European and Mestizo? Whatever the case, the painting is masterful in conveying a sense of conflict and painful duality, and so it was a fantastic source of inspiration for my 32nd piece in “Just a Peek, Please?”
More to come....
