Frida Kahlo Trauma

Kahlo said, “My painting carried with it the message of pain. Painting completed my life. I lost three children. Painting substituted for all this (Ashton Dore, 1990).” She left childbirth, a physical act, in an image through constantly noticing the relationship between her physical experiences and her paintings and being absorbed into actions of creation borne from her pain. It is almost difficult to find works of art that depict this theme as honestly as Kahlo in Western art history. My Birth (1932) (Figure 24) shows a front view of a woman delivering a baby (Souter Gerry, 2011, p. 60). Between the woman’s wide-open legs is the head of a grown-up Kahlo covered with blood and looking almost dead. A sheet covers the woman’s head and upper body

Frida Kahlo was best known for her reflective self-portraits that defined the tragedies she'd endured. Explaining her affection for the style, Kahlo said, "I paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best.” Kahlo contracted Polio at the age of six which left her with a deformed foot, she was also Bed-bound while recovering from a grisly streetcar accident. Kahlo under went over 30 operations throughout her life; and over the years she painted a portrait of herself whenever she was troubled.

Frida Kahlo, she never intended to become a painter. Kahlo was aspired to become a doctor as a young woman, but after a horrible accident at the age of 18, it left her mentally, as well as physically scared for life. This event had totally changed her life forever. The theme in almost all of Frida’s painting was her own life. Her paintings were based on events took place during her lifetime. As we can see in many of Frida’s paintings, especially in her self-portraits, it expresses her own personal emotions along with feelings about an event that happened in her life, such as her physical condition, her lack of ability to conceive children of her own, her ideology of life and nature, and most important of all, it was her unstable relationship with her husband Diego. Somewhere between the movement of surrealism, realism and symbolism in the art of Frida Kahlo, she was able to bring out tenderness, femininity, reality, cruelty and suffering within her paintings.

One of the biggest obstacles in treating PTSD is the high prevalence of co-morbidities. Co-morbidity is the presence of two or more chronic diseases or conditions in a patient. “A study conducted in Australia found that at least half of the people with PTSD have moderate depression, while generalized anxiety disorder was present in a 40% of men and 22% of women sufferers. (Wright, 2014).” This study also found a close link between PTSD patients and substance abuse; it was found that over 30% of people who suffer from PTSD also suffer from substance abuse. (Wright, 2014)

Effective treatment of PTSD can only take place if the disorder is recognized. Symptoms of PTSD are commonly divided into three defining sections: (1) reliving the traumatic event, (2) detachment and avoidance, and (3) exaggerated responses (NCBI, 2010). When a patient relives the traumatic event, it occurs in a manner in which it interferes with the normal process of daily life. This can include recurring flashbacks or dreams and distressing memories, which manifest negative physical reactions. Detachment and avoidance is demonstrated through loss of interest in current living situation, avoidance of people or places that may

Frida suffered immensely, died young, and spoke directly through her paintings. All the physical and spiritual sufferings Frida experienced is mirrored in her art. Most of Frida’s paintings are collages of pain. Obsessed with her health and grief, she created portraits that were intense and emotional.

Our nation has spent nearly over 20 years now fighting for terrorism. Men and women in uniform have returned home. Many of them have returned broken- broken, not just physically but more so mentally, emotionally and psychologically. At one point taking PTSD as a serious mental health issue was bandied. Alongside with this was the reality that people who are going through it are in denial of what is really happening with them and would just choose to keep the real struggle that go with having it. However, PTSD is not just common in the military. Studies show that PTSD affects about 8 million American adults, and can happen at any age, including childhood. Often, PTSD is accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or anxiety disorders, As one

Treating those with PTSD is a challenge because each individual suffers differently. Treatment strategies depends upon, “type of PTSD inducing trauma; PTSD chronicity and gender, number of times being exposed to trauma and age” (Iribarren, 2005). According to psychologists, combat survivors may be “less responsive to treatment that other victims of other traumatic exposures”, possibly because the PTSD is added to other psychological disorders such as depression and abuse. Common treatments for PTSD include:

Mexican artist Frida Kahlo’s fame only grew larger after her death, bringing her art as well as her personal life into museums, books, and also movies. Through her life Kahlo dealt with various illness, tumultuous relationships, and was even involved in some political movements. Consequently, her art was influenced by all the experiences as seen and felt through her own eyes and flesh.

Before her life as an artist, Frida Kahlo would suffer traumatic experiences that will lead her to taking her first steps into the world of art. She would experience pain in her childhood that will lead into her early adulthood. As an adult, Frida would then suffer a fatal accident as well as the infidelity of her husband. In addition to the personal issues she endured, she also dealt with the questioning of her national identity. Kahlo’s artistic abilities later led her to create self-portraits which often showed herself suffering. Using her personal tragedies, Frida Kahlo was able to render paintings that resembled pain and suffering.

Frida Kahlo is a celebrated Mexican artist that came from a multi-racial background. Her heritage and other pivotal moments in he life would later be portrayed in many of the fifty-five self-portraits she would paint during her life. Kahlo began painting while in bed recovering from a bus accident that not only left her in a body cast for three months, but with never ending pain throughout her life. Kahlo would begin to pursue the selling and exhibition of artwork. This lead Frida to seek out painter Diego Rivera, hoping that in him she could find a mentor and guide into the art world. They married in 1929 and so began a tumultuous marriage full of infidelities and heartache. Much that happened during their marriage would become subject matter for her painting later deemed part of Surrealism. “Though not an official member of Surrealism, Kahlo's bizarre imagery along with her linear style was reminiscent of Surrealist” paintings, she is often said to be a surrealist painter, through she did not identify with the movement herself. (theartstory.org) After a live of loss, martial owes, and pain, Frida died in 1954, at the age of forty-seven, leaving behind a legacy of painting that spoke volumes concerning her emotion and state of

Reading Mimi Y. Yang’s “Articulate Image, Painted Diary: Frida Kahlo's Autobiographical Interface, " I was particularly impressed with the amount of struggle Frida lived with daily and how she chose to overcome to express her pain through her paintings, and her loneliness through her diaries (Yang, 314). It’s truly remarkable how beautiful Frida’s paintings are, and how much her suffering comes through in works such as The Broken Column and The Two Fridas. I know if I were in as much pain, both physically and emotionally, as Frida, I would most likely stay in bed all day, never mind have the strength to express my personal inner emotions through confessional mediums. Additionally, Frida’s free expression taught me to embrace who I am, both the negative and positive aspects, as she did. Frida never seemed to give into society’s expectations of a female, and continuously pushed boundaries with her confessional art, an aspect of Frida I believe all individuals should

As a young women, Frida would have never imagined becoming a painter, as it was not a part of her career goals. In 1922, Kahlo was one of very few females who enrolled at the renowned national preparatory school and became known for her pleasant and cheerful spirit. Kahlo became friends with a group of politically minded students while at school. At this young age, Frida’s life goal was to become a doctor, however this all changed after a tragic accident at age 18, which changed the course of her life. The injuries from the accident were ones that she would never fully recover from and which would bring her chronic pain for the rest of her life. The accident also prevented her from bearing children and Kahlo suffered a number of miscarriages throughout her life. She was known to have

More than 60 years have passed since the death of Frida Kahlo, a Surrealist Mexican painter. Frida Kahlo’s many talents were overshadowed by her husband’s fame during the course of her life. Yet, it wasn’t until her death and the early 1970’s where Frida’s artistic effort started to surpass that of her political and creative husband. Her biography is both depressive and particularly interesting. Many of her private moments and experiences are shared in her greatest pieces of art. Some of those valuable masterpieces contain her cherished possessions, in addition to them being the things that established her popularity and appreciation among distinct genders, cultures and ages around the world. Knowing this, it was in my interest to devote some quality time and effort to this woman whose life immediately captivated my attention and inspired me to understand and endure life as a woman.

4. Frida Kahlo essentially became an international cultural icon, honored by many people, especially in Mexico. Her artwork withholds visual symbolism of all kinds of emotional and physical pain and most importantly she incorporated indigenous culture and her depiction of the female experience. Including illustrating the feelings of death, loneliness, pain, including the pain of miscarriages, failed marriage, and the aftermath of tragic accidents. Through her imagery, she was able to portray her life experiences. She would include specific elements that symbolized something greater. Throughout the process of analyzing all different aspects of Frida Kahlo’s paintings, it provided a deeper understanding to each painting.