Essay Example on Frida Kahlo's 1932 Self Portrait: Symbolism of Mexico & US Industrialization

An image is a descriptive art that silently tells more about an event than words can. Frida Kahlo's 1932 Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States uses symbolism to depict the situation in Mexico and industrialization in the U.S. at the time. The painting portrays Kahlo standing on a concrete block at the borderline, holding a cigarette on the right hand, and a Mexican flag on the left, which crosses over the Mexican side. Kahlo wears a pink dress, a coral and jade necklace, lace gloves, and braided hair; the block she stands on is inscribed "Carmen Rivera painted her picture in 1932." To her left, Kahlo paints a machine and chimneys releasing industrial gases on the American side. On the Mexican side, plants, the Mexican pyramids, idols, stone skeleton head, clouds containing a fire-spewing sun and the moon, and lighting in between the two. All the objects included in Kahlo's Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States are thematic and descriptive of the painter, Mexico at the time, its past, future, and association with the U.S.

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Kahlo used her image, posture, dressing, and the Mexican flag to describe her attitude and identity. The flag points towards Mexico, showing that her loyalty belongs to the country. Kahlo stands on a concrete block on the boundary of Mexico and America, showing that she is the product of the ancient heritage and the modern world. Her pink dress, lace gloves, a pre-Columbian coral and jade dress necklace, and the plaited hair depict elegance and cultural identity.

The American side Kahlo's Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States shows an industrialized world, while the Mexican side portrays cultural heritage. The Mexican soil yields several plants, showing that the land is fertile; moreover, the female idols on the ground are Mexican fertility totems. The stone skeleton head on the ground resembles the Dia de Muertos or Day of the Dead festival skull, used a symbol to celebrate death and life cycles (Kearl 1). The pyramid depicted in the image is a pre-Columbian temple dedicated to the country's ancient deities, but it is half-ruined. The fault lines on the painting indicate that the temple destruction could have resulted from seismic and tectonic activities, perhaps the Jalisco earthquakes of 1932 (Eissler and Karen 4525). The sun and moon are depicted to be in combat, which results in a bolt of lightning. In ancient Mexico, the sun was generally associated with positive, warmth, and light, while the moon was associated with negative ones, such as death and darkness; hence, the two fight to create balance (Heyden 133). Kahlo painted one half of Mexico in shadow and the other is light; this could portray a balance between good and bad.

Industrialization in America is represented by Ford (as inscribed on the Chimneys), which is an American company that deals in automobiles. Instead of the plants and roots portrayed on the Mexican side, electronic gadgets such as a generator, a lamp, a speaker, and cables are drawn. The cables stretch to connect with the roots of the plants on the Mexican soil. Arguably, this shows that industrialization in America will one day affect the Mexican land. Also, the interconnection suggests an interdependency between the two countries. While Mexico is experiencing agricultural prosperity, the nation lacks technological growth; therefore, it is bound to rely on an industrialized country.

The contrast between ancient Mexico and modern America depicts the difference between culture and modernity. The painting also shows that beliefs and illusions vary from technology. Also, Kahlo portrays the end of the ancient Mexican religion, through the destruction of the pre-Columbian pyramid. The American flag is blurred by the smoke from the industrial chimneys; perhaps, this alludes to the effects of air pollution by industrial gases on the environment that the world is facing. Therefore, judging from the two sides depicted in the painting, Kahlo's Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States is an illustration of the contrast between the past (ancient culture), and the future (modernized world).

The objects included in Kahlo's Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States are thematic; they describe the painter, Mexico at the time, its past, future, and association with America. Kahlo used her image, posture, dressing, and the Mexican flag to describe her attitude and identity. The Mexican side of the painting portrays cultural heritage while the American depicts an industrialized world. Mexico has plants, two female idols representing fertility, and a temple pyramid illustrating ancient allegiance to deities while America has Ford chimneys and electronic gadgets. The cables stretch to connect with the roots of the plants on Mexico, which is a sign of interdependence between the two, or future influences of American industrialization on Mexico. Judging from the two sides depicted in the painting, Kahlo's Self Portrait Between the Borderline of Mexico and the United States is an illustration of the contrast between the past (ancient culture), and the future (modernized world).

Works Cited

Eissler, Holly, K., and Karen C. McNally. "Seismicity and tectonics of the Rivera plate and implications of the 1932 Jalisco, Mexico, earthquake." Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 89.B6 (1984): 4520-4530, doi.org/10.1029/JB089iB06p04520

Heyden, Doris. "An interpretation of the cave underneath the pyramid of the sun in the Teotihuacan, Mexico." American Antiquity 40.2 Part 1 (1975): 131-147, www.latinamericanstudies.org/aztecs/Teotihuacan-cave.pdf

Kearl, Michael C. "The proliferation of skulls in popular culture: a case study of how the traditional symbol of mortality was rendered meaningless." Mortality 20.1 (2015): 1-18, doi.org/10.1080/13576275.2014.961004