Artist Residency

In July 2023 I visited Mexico City on an artist residency supported by Arts council England. This astounding experience has given me the opportunity to visit the home of my heroines Frida Kahlo and Leonora Carrington. Below you can see the my artwork and some of the places I visited.

Two black and white photo's side by side. Photo one is Frida Kahlo dressed in traditional Mexican Costume, with flowers on her head. She is leaning on railings on the roof of her house, and the floor is tiled. The second photo is Red, standing in the same location and leaning on the same railings.
Frida and Red on the roof of Frida’s studio house in Mexico City

Inspiration

I learnt more about the culture of Mexico and Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo’s life. This impacted on my palette, I opted for brighter, more confident colours which were drawn from my environment. I have developed as an artist in both style and confidence, I have found new joy in creating from the perspective of my own experience. I went to discover Frida and Leonora’s inspirations, but I actually found my own.

Other artists

The variety of disciplines the other artists on the residency were moving and it seemed as though the residency hosts had created an environment where we all overlapped each other despite being very different. Between us we had the themes of displacement, heritage, emotions, self and cultural awareness, belonging and autonomy. The work of the other artists and their views and comments on my work spring boarded me forward.

Presentation

During our exhibition I gave a presentation to around 30 artists and I did not stammer or have a Betty outburst. These symptoms of PTSD have plagued me for years, I felt accepted and respected and my confidence grew as an artist. I spent so many years working from my bed that this experience was the most powerful and influential of my life.

Artwork created in Mexico City

  • An out of focus man in an admirals hat holds up a pint of beer. Below him is cut out text saying the word ART in capital letters
  • Painting of a cockroach and the Mexican text La Cucaracha below it in red paint, hand written. Above the cockroach is text that is peeping through a layer of paint saying "hop on hop off" the painting is made on a tourist information card.
  • A back ground of text from a book is covered in turqiose paint and text from underneath shows through in some places. Over it is a heart, wrapped by thorny stems, taken from a painting by Frida Kahlo. Underneath are two orangey red roses and between them are drops of blood coming from the heart. Att he top of the heart is a crown and to the left of the heart a bee is sitting. At the top of the painting are the words "House, Home Management"
  • A painting of a ceramic figure that is house in Diego Rivera's temple in Mexico City. The figure is teracotta and has a wide head like a cartoon bear, its made up of horizontal stripes in terracotta and white. Above the head of the little figure is the word "Reclaimed" and the background is collage and floral.
  • We Learnt to Fly is written in white text to the top right of this painting of a red boot. The boot belonged to Frida Kahlo and has embroidered flowers and shapes on the front of the boot and a bell is attached with a sky blue ribbon
  • A bright royal blue background (the colour of Frida Kahlo's house) sits behined three collaged giant cactuses which are formed from a page from a book and the text is visible under the green and white details on each cactus. To the left of the cactuses are the words, cut out of magazines and they state "Fate", "Phenomena" and "Dreams"
  • A painting with a collaged background and rows of dots turquoise over printed with red cover the entire image. A section at the bottom is cut off and contains the words "The number of times you hurt me, even though I loved you" in both English and Spanish
  • Collage painting, mixed media. Top right a volcano is erupting, underneath it are waves of red hair, Frida's ear from a painting. Below that there are giant cactuses and at the bottom right are abstract paint bottles, representations of Frida's table in her studio. Upon the table is an image of Frida Kahlo's portrait mirror and the reflection in it is a side profile of Red. Her blue dress with orange flowers is also reflected in the mirror. Frida's hand touches Red's cheek and behind Red are plants from one of Frida's paintings. There is a large hibiscus flower in the top left corner of the mirror, it is Pink Below the imagery in the bottom section of the paining are the words "I followed your example and it led to me painting myself in your mirror" in both English and Mexican Spanish