Kahlo Self Portrait Analysis

Subsequently, the contrasting imagery suggests that even if she were to re-enter the physical space of Mexico at that very moment, there would be no true ever-present Mexico to which she could refer to. For Kahlo, Mexico does not suggest either a conclusive national personality because that is impossible when the past was in ruins and the future was continually being compromised with modernity which is aptly represented in her painting as the roots of the Mexican plants stretched out and entwined with the power cords of the US loudspeakers (Volk 2000 177). As a result, the Self-Portrait not only complicates the notion of the emergence of a Mexican nation — which Rivera was working so hard to depict — but seems to parody his attempt to merge

Even Madonna is a fan" (Herrera, 1990). Kahlo has been fetishized and commoditized. Images of her self-portraits and photographs stare out from T-shirts, calendars, and jewellery, Hollywood (Frida 2002) and her style has been celebrated in fashion features in Vogue (February 1990) and Elle (May 1989) (Barnet-Sanchez 1997 pp. 244-245). However, for a marketer her art, rather than Kahlo herself, is a window that offers insight into mind-set and legacy of the consumer society of the Mexican people. In Self-Portrait the images on both sides of the border can be understood as the ideological tools of national propaganda. Kahlo keeps the history alive as she portrays a true vision of Mexico. Frida celebrates the cross-cultural identity that Mexico embraced after the turmoil of the revolution - a heritage of, Indian, American, Spanish, and British to just name a few. Her paintings became a connecting thread of Mexico’s history as she did not neglect tying the time in which she lived to the Aztec past (pbs.org). Victor Zamaudio-Taylor, an art historian, states that she has become "a model for Mexican Americans and Hispanics in the United States because she nurtures a sense of who [we] are and of a long history and of continuities." (mexicoart.org). therefore, the insight is that to represent the Mexican consumer society as a whole is bad business.

French theorists Helene Cixous and Luce Irigaray have suggested, women must "speak" and "write" their own experiences, but the speaking must also be related to the context (Helland). In her life and work Kahlo espoused the ethic of Mexicanidad (Mexicanness), picturing herself as nourished by her Indian roots despite the fact that she was the daughter of an Hungarian Jew and a Mexican mother of Spanish and Indian descent (Herrera 1990). As she sought her own roots, Kahlo’s personal pain did not eclipse her commitment to Mexico and the Mexican people. She always also voiced concern for her country as it struggled for an independent cultural identity. Therefore, from looking at Self-Portrait on the Border Line Between Mexico and the United States it provides evidence of an insightful understanding of the fragmented Mexican identity. it shows that the government of post-Revolutionary Mexican used the normalized discourse of nationalism that typically seeks to obscure its fissures by asserting its unity, antiquity, harmony, and inclusivity (Volk 2000 174) by idealizing the self-control and governing power of the Aztecs. Furthermore, this fragmented identity is demonstrated by Kahlo’s self-representation performing a literal split down the middle between the contrasting imagery of culturally rich Mexico against