Frida Kahlo: Borderline Between Mexico And The US

Frida Kahlo

Are you part of two cultures? If yes you are not unlike Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican artist. Frida Kahlo was born and raised in Mexico the child of a European atheist and a Mexican catholic. Kahlo became a painter as the result of a horrible bus accident at the age of eighteen, painting was the only way she could truly express how she felt. She married Diego Rivera, another famous Mexican artist. As the result of being famous Frida Kahlo lived in the United States for some time and she also became friends with Pablo Picasso and she was considered a surrealist (Amazing Women).
In the painting Self-portrait on the borderline between Mexico and the United States, Frida Kahlo stands on pedestal, which has an inscription in Spanish, the pedestal is the symbolic
border between Mexico and the United States. She shows Mexico with fertility god statues, open terrain, a ruined perhaps Incan, temple, and flowers with their roots showing. Frida Kahlo paints the United States with no open space, skyscrapers in the background and factories in the foreground, she illustrates that the U.S. is bright and loud by painting blaring speakers and flashing lights. My criteria for belonging in a place is that you partake in the customs, dress in the wardrobe, speak the language, and even share beliefs with other people. My major claim is that in Self-Portrait on the Borderline between Mexico and the United States, Frida Kahlo expresses that she is the merging of both sides and does not know on which side she truly belongs (Kahlo). Through her painting Frida Kahlo illustrates that she belongs in the natural Mexico. Frieda stands on a pedestal, which has an inscription in Spanish, slightly facing Mexico and away from the United States. She is holding a Mexican flag in her left hand demonstrating her patriotism for Mexico (Kahlo). When you belong in a certain place you show that by knowing the language and being patriotic. Frida Kahlo shows us this by holding a Mexican flag and standing on a pedestal with a Spanish inscription. Therefore Frida Kahlo belongs in the natural Mexico. Frida Kahlo has fertility statues on the Mexican side of the painting, illustrating that she has the same beliefs the people of Mexico do, as well that she wants to have kids, meaning Frida wants to spread her roots deeper in Mexico. She shows that by painting flowers with their roots showing, this symbolizes that she has deep roots in Mexico and that she wants to spread them even deeper (Kahlo). When a person belongs in a culture or place they partake in local beliefs and show that you want to settle down in the area. Frida Kahlo shows this to us by painting statues of fertility gods, and flowers with deep roots, which symbolize a history of the person in that place and the will to settle down. Frida Kahlo demonstrates her belonging in the industrialized United States.
She shows this by wearing an outfit typical of that time worn by women in the United States. Frida Kahlo is smoking a cigarette and pointing it towards the United States, showing that it came from the U.S. (Kahlo). If you belong in a place you partake in the customs and begin wearing clothes from that region. Frida Kahlo is wearing and American dress and smoking a cigarette. Therefore Frida Kahlo belongs in the industrialized United States. The pedestal that Frida is standing on is plugged into the machines of the United States. In the painting you can see that wires are the new roots of the U.S. and they connect to the roots of Mexico symbolizing that Frida Kahlo has new roots in the United States (Kahlo). If you belong in a country or place you show that you are connected in some way to that world and you show that you have roots or connections on that particular place. Frieda Kahlo illustrates this by being plugged into the machines of the U.S. and by having roots there as well. Frida Kahlo shows in her painting that she belongs in the industrialized United
States. Frida Kahlo expresses that she is the merging of both Mexico and the United States, but wants to belong and is unsure on which side she belongs. Frida Kahlo belongs in the natural Mexico because she is holding a Mexican flag and facing the side of Mexico (Kahlo). Frida Kahlo belongs in the United States because she is dressed as if in the U.S. and she is plugged in to the machines of the United States, also she is smoking a cigarette (Kahlo). Belonging in a country or place means immersing yourself in the culture by wearing the clothes, precipitating in the customs, beliefs and being patriotic. I have learned that Frida Kahlo was part of both Mexico and the United States and wanted to be a part of only one.

Amazing Women. 23 Oct. 2001. Frida Kahlo. Self-portrait on the borderline between Mexico and the United States. 1932.