The Kahlo painting that I chose is titled “The Mask”. This painting is a self portrait of Kahlo. It is simple, with no background distractions, just Kahlo. She holds a mask with a distressed or upset face. There are tears on the mask and one must wonder if Kahlo’s tears could actually fall through the small openings that she has made in order to see. Is the sadness she feels within stronger than the image that she provides us with on her mask?
The mask shows the feelings that the face won’t reveal. Everyone struggles to balance their inner feelings and their outward appearance. One’s inner feelings are personal and private, but your outward appearance is always public and open for everyone to judge. Ultimately, Kahlo’s mask becomes her face and her face becomes the mask.
While looking at this painting I couldn’t resist feeling my feelings of empathy. The portrait is so raw and simple that there is no need to try to figure out a deeper meaning. In fact, figuring out a deeper meaning is exactly what Kahlo is avoiding by presenting herself with a mask. I think that sometimes people just want to put on a mask as a way to avoid public opinion and suppress inner feelings. People are busy. They don’t always have the time or take the time to deal with their inner feelings, so in the mean time just put on a “happy mask”. I think that a happy expression is the “mask” of choice most of the time and that’s why I enjoyed this painting so much; she chose to be sad. There’s nothing wrong with being sad, it’s a natural normal feeling. If only our society didn’t overreact and smother sad people. Instead, why not allow them to be sad?
Kahlo, Frida. The Mask. Digital image. The Art Exchange. Web. 18 Sept. 2009.
No comments:
Post a Comment