.jpg)
Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird, 1940
By Frida Kahlo
Oil on Canvas
61.25 cm × 47 cm (24.11 in × 18.5 in)
Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas at Austin
 |
| Frida's Soul |
Frida Kahlo de Rivera (1907-1954) is Mexico’s most
celebrated female artist, famed most notably for her association with pain and
passion both in her life and in her artwork, and notorious for her honesty in
depicting the female form. Painting was
not her original path, but a horrific bus crash at the age of 18 left her
bedridden for over a year while she underwent over 30 operations to put her broken
body back together again. Painting
became a way of release, and of her 143 paintings, 55 are self portraits due to
the amount of time she spent alone and immobilised. She painted her life as she saw it, she did
not paint dreams.
As pain was such a big part of Frida's life it featured heavily in her artwork. This particular painting was no exception.
Self-Portrait with Thorn Necklace and Hummingbird (1940) was painted
just after her divorce from Diego Rivera and the end of her affair with photographer
Nickolas Muray.
Frida often used Christian or Jewish symbolism in her work,
so I would like to think that she would have approved of my choice and use of symbolism. The focal pendant is not only representative of the hummingbird in her painting, but also symbolic
of a blood stained cross and representative of her pain that she portrayed in her
painting. I see Frida Kahlo as a
tortured soul, tormented by the physical and emotional pain she endured during
her lifetime, which is why I have called my necklace, Frida’s Soul.
The polymer clay hummingbird and leaves were made by me, as was the clasp. The following photos will give you a little peek into some of the processes involved in creating this necklace.
And finally, a closer view of the individual components.
 |
| Frida's Soul |
I hope you like it. Thanks for reading. xx
