Like most people at one time or another, I was intrigued and fascinated by Frida Kahlo and by her work. For me that time came in my early teens (circa 1998) and still endures today.
When I first heard about Frida, I was a rambunctious, spirited and very inquisitive 12 year old. I was drawn to her work because it was visually colourful, bold, and interesting while being honest, confronting and helping me to see the world from an entirely different perspective, one i wasn’t familiar with - one of suffering, great sadness, loss and betrayal. And I knew I was drawn to her because of the way she applied paint or put charcoal to paper - with great purpose, intent and passion.
People create with such conviction I thought when they are decisive, when they are strong, when they believe in what they’re doing. As I read about Frida and looked at more and more of her work, my appreciation for her grew.
I’ve been fortunate to see several of Frida’s works in the flesh and they really do blow me away - everything I thought about her application and intent when painting is true. Her work truly embodies resilience, strength, conviction and honesty.
Several weeks after my visit to the Flower Market in London which I have pin pointed to the time I knew flowers would enter my life in a big way, I looked over some of Frida’s portraits and it struck me - flowers were a big part of who Frida Kahlo was. In particular flower crowns, ribbons and headpieces.
I really liked making this correlation between the woman I see as the embodiment of strength, resilience and honesty using blooms in such a predominant way in her works.
Flowers in Hand salute you Frida Kahlo x
