Pain That Leads to Intention.

What inspires me about Frida Kahlo isn't just her body of work, but also her life and how her art served as an outlet for her struggles, pain, and convictions. When you look at her life from the viewer's perspective, it was as if she was born to suffer. But I find beauty in how she chose to deal with her suffering and how she used her art to capture and process her painful moments, not knowing that her work would be celebrated one day.

I used to delay pursuing my dream of being an artist because I didn't know or understand what I wanted to showcase or capture in my work. But Frida's art demonstrates that it isn't about the art itself, but rather how art can serve as a vessel for healing. I admire how she visually journaled her life and probably used it to process her pain.

"I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality."

Frida Kahlo

I've found inspiration in Frida's transparency, and my own art has evolved as I've come to understand myself better. In 2017, I created my first tribute to Frida, which was a simple depiction of her essence. But as I explored my own life and emotions, I realized that my first piece was flat and binary, and life isn't binary. In my second tribute to Frida, I added layers and confusion to represent the dynamic nature that we all encompass within ourselves.

Sometimes life turns us upside down and we don't know why or how to right ourselves. During the pandemic, I can relate to feeling like Frida in her paintings. But what's wonderful about feeling this way is that it's not forever, there is always something to learn, and we become stronger for it. If you find yourself feeling not quite yourself, try taking your feelings and processing them through art or another outlet that helps you understand yourself better. For me, it was creating my tribute to Frida.