Frida Kahlo was a famous Mexican artist. She was known for her unique paintings and self-portraits. Her paintings are unique because she uses art as a form of spiritual and personal healing. Some of her paintings also possess elements of feminism and political commentary. Frida was in no way afraid to express herself sexuality neither in real life nor in her artwork. “She had a lurid imagination, and her fascination with sexual organs, also seen in the drawings in her journal and in a number of her paintings, burst forth in the ‘exquisite corpses.’” (Frida 162). What The Water Gave Me and Self Portrait Dedicated to Marte R Gomez, pencil on paper were painted by Frida Kahlo in 1938 and 1946 respectively.
What The Water Gave Me shows Frida in a bathtub from a first-person perspective. Her feet emerge from the water and reflect onto the water’s surface. Events of her life are also reflected upon the water. “Her fantasy was a product of her temperament, life and place; it …show more content…
A skeleton of a baby can be seen sitting beside the volcano. A strong and tall skyscraper can be seen protruding out of the volcano. The skyscraper is the opposite of Frida’s spine. While the skyscraper is tall and straight, Frida’s spine is crooked. The skyscraper emerging from the volcano symbolises Frida’s illness and disabilities that prevent her from having a successful pregnancy.
During the late 1930’s, Frida’s marriage to Diego was falling apart due to them being unfaithful to each other. A yellow traditional Mexican dress can be seen floating in the water. Diego loved it when Frida would dress in her traditional Mexican dresses. The dress floating on the water symbolises the downfall of their first marriage. The dress has a similar meaning to one of Frida’s later paintings “The Two Fridas” which shows Frida wearing an extravagant blouse and the other wearing humble Mexican dress. The Frida wearing the Mexican dress was the one Diego still