Hey everyone! So today I'm continuing with my Classical Art Reinterpretation series with Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, by Frida Kahlo.
For those who don't know, Frida Kahlo was a Mexican artist who was known for her self-portraits; her odd painting style that was a mix of surrealism and folk; and her unreleneting feminist views. Today, she's treasured as one of Mexico's most influential artists and a celebrated figure of national pride.
I'm not going to get into her whole life story, because it's incredibly layered and intricate, and if you want to know more about her, I highly recommend seeing the film Frida, which stars Salma Hayek as Kahlo. But there were many factors that impacted her painting, from her tumultuous marriage to fellow Mexican artist Diego Rivera, misscariages and infertility, an abortion, a lifetime of ailments stemming from a horrific train accident in her youth, and her extreme isolation from society. She was born in 1907 and died in 1954 at the age of 47. Days before her death she wrote the now famous line, "I hope the exit is joyful – and I hope never to return", in her personal diary.
Since her death, she's become one of the most reknown and widely recognized female artists of the twentieth century. Many critics believe that contemporary art would not be what it is today without the influence of Kahlo. Her surrealistic self-portraits were unlike anything people were painting at the time, and she showed that you don't need to be a master painter to create beloved works of art.
Her painting Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird was painted in 1940 after her divorce from Rivera and the end of her affair with photographer Nickolas Muray. It was painted with oil on canvas. Today, the painting is on display as part of the Nickolas Muray Collection in the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas.
And here is my interpretation of the painting:
Like a lot of my recreations, this is a comopsite. It's a number of separate images that I stacked together to come up with this final composition. I made a few changes from the original, most notably in the extra elements (the monkey and the cat). I did this because... well, I don't have a cat, or know anyone with a cat, and I don't have a monkey either. I suppose I could have gone to the zoo, but I shot this in the middle of the winter, and I didn't want to freeze my butt off at the zoo, haha.
My model for this reinterpretation was Trinity Trinkwon, and just like with Victoria's Mona Lisa, it's odd that I used her for only one picture, since Trinity is one of my go to models along with my sisters. When Trinity showed up at the school for the shoot, she had already applied her unibrow, and it was hilarious watching her walk through the school and see everyone give her confused looks from the corner of their eyes. She even got a couple double-takes! The "thorn necklace" was made with plastic branches from some Value Village find that I bent into a circle, while the bird is just a clip my mum got from the dollar store that I spray painted black. It was actually covered in pink sequins... it was the ugliest little bird I've ever seen.
This recreation actually got me quite a bit of recognition. My school, Durham College, offered to pay for me to submit it to Applied Arts Magainze, a Canadian-based arts magazine that publishes some chosen work from both students and industry professionals. I didn't really think I had a chance of winning a spot in their magazine (I also thought that this wasn't my strongest piece of the series), but to my surprise, I won. It was an even bigger surprise when I discovered that there were very few winning submissions. I was so honoured to be chosen. In November they put on a travelling show of the winning submissions, and it just happened to be showing in Toronto. I went to see it with Trinity and my family, and it was so surreal seeing something of mine up in public for people to see. I had all these feelings of pride and terror wrapped up inside, feeling like they were going to burst, haha.
I'll be back again next Monday with another picture in this series – Still Life of a Wanli Kraak Porcelain Bowl of Citrus Fruit and Pomegranates on a Wooden Table... that's a mouthful. Next week will also be the conclusion of this blog post series. I do have a couple more reinterpretations to finish up... I just have to stop procrastinating and get to them, haha.
As always, if you're interested in seeing the other images from this series, you can check them out here.
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And you can check out my debut fantasy novel, The Children of Gods and Monsters, now on Amazon, here.
Also, check out the prelude to The Children of Gods and Monsters, also on Amazon, here.
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