Everything was exciting, new and scary. No longer top dogs of elementary, we bustled into class as the lowest rank of the school. My best friend and I had made sure our schedules were the same, or at least we took the only art class that was offered to us for our age. The classroom was wider than the other ones on the grounds. It had two columns of extra long tables and four on each side. We picked a back table closest to the door and tossed our backpacks down.
As we looked about, at the top of the room, were art posters. Among the Monet, Dega, Van Gogh, and DaVinci was a peculiar portrait. She sat stoic, with her yellowed brown skin, seemingly emotionless, surrounded by palm leaves, birds of paradise and a few monkies, wearing what I thought at the time was a baseball shirt. In particular I could see her long uniformed eyebrow, and the hint of hair above her lip. And her name was Frida Kahlo.
I remember thinking, how odd, how ugly, and why would she make herself have a unibrow? I was also 11 and what I was shown by movies, magazines and everyone else, was this was not what beauty was. Having exposure to a portrait that had a unibrow challenged my way of thinking. She had own beauty and looked as if she was saying, ‘I don’t give a crap if you don’t like who I am, I know who I am. Every mark, every hair, I am me.’ As I got to know her story, I connected with a couple different things. First of all, she was one of the only person on that wall of posters that actually painted by a female, and that struck out to me because all of these other people on the wall were considered Masters. My art teacher was also a female and it’s not that she wasn’t trying to expose us to different artist, but Frida was the first one I was introduced to that showed me you didnt have to be a man to paint masterpieces She had a story, she had more than just ‘traditional’ pretty picture. It felt like she wasn’t trying to conform to what I thought were standards at the time. I hadn’t very much exposure to art history in 6th grade but when I got to know her story I felt connected to this person who was different.
She broke barriers And was a testament to resilience. She expressed herself with honesty, on pain, love and death. She brought to light and elevated her culture and Mexico. Through her future popularity, some have not taken the time to learn about her truth, struggles, and life. But her art made me believe that I had a space in the arts as a woman. And I am forever inspired by the peculiar portrait I saw in my first art class. To learn more please visit https://www.fridakahlo.org/
