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About the Piece
This piece is in response to Frida
Kahlo’s My Nurse and I. Art critic Hayden Herrera gives a thorough
review of Frida’s piece which is worth reading.
When I was two years old our family spent two summers in Alaska in
an area so remote our food was brought in by pontoon plane. Mindful
of the Alaska brown bears in the area the men carried guns. Mom
didn’t carry a rifle; she knew that if a bear wasn’t killed with the
first shot she would just enrage it. During our two summers none of
the men encountered a bear, but Mom and I did. Walking along a path
through the woods Mom had baskets of laundry balanced on each hip; I
was sitting on her shoulders. As we rounded a bend in the path an
800 pound bear was in front of us, just two feet away. I began to
squeal with joy “Oggie, oggie!” My Mom says she can still remember
looking into the face of that bear as it turned, went to the side of
the trail and looked at us. Mom just continued on down the path. If
she had wanted to she could have reached out and touched the bear’s
fur, it was so close. Mom’s not sure why the bear didn’t attack.
Perhaps the bear didn’t know what to make of the two headed creature
with massive basket hips and a second head at the very top of the
creature babbling away. Mom said the bear was watching me as we
passed; she thinks the bear might have sensed that I was a child. I
am not going to anthropomorphize the bear, nature is nature and when
bears are hungry they eat. Yet, I like to think my meeting the bear
was a moment of sublime awe and wonder that I have cradled in my
deeps these many years. Bears have always been symbols of fierce
mothers that protect their young. Right now, with my illness, the
wagons are circled, and Mother Ursula has come to protect her young.
I have always been drawn to Frida Kahlo because of her colorful
imagery, and her unique vision that was not filtered through anyone
else’s lens. She made the art that made sense to her and it was
honest and defiant. I have never regarded myself as anything but
healthy. During the past few months I have had to accept that cancer
is considered a disability, and that I now have a disability. And,
so, Frida Kahlo’s own health issues draw me closer to her for
comfort and guidance on how to emotionally navigate a chronic
illness.
On the front of the piece Frida stands with her arms in a cradle,
mimicking the bear’s arms with the implication that Frida also holds
me in her arms like a child. The bear claw-like necklace around her
neck also links her to the bear. The soft folds of fabric and
bunches of flowers add comfort and life to the tableau. Her arms
wrap around herself as if she is comforting and holding her own
body; she is a mother to herself. At other times, it seems as if she
is in pain and is holding herself to make the pain abate.
When sculpting Frida’s face I looked at several photographs. I see
different expressions in my portrait: defiance, sadness, resolve,
peace, suffering. An artist once said to me “Don’t try to assign
meaning to your pieces, you may not understand what they mean for
years to come.” I am a meaning maker; yet, I do see this portrait of
Frida as mercurial, encompassing the many emotions she must be
feeling.
For questions or comments about Cydra's art, please email: womansculpture@icloud.com |
