Also, the idea of double nature of the artist uncenters the viewer's perception of him or herself -- it raises the question if we are all not simultaneously two people, if we embrace more than one identity within ourselves -- jilted lover and artist. Frida's use of her unique style of primitivism makes the work uniquely self-expressive. Yet there are many points of access of the work for the gazer, most notably the sense of heartbreak literally rendered. One interpretation of the work suggests that Frida is both loved and unloved -- the more conventional Frida bleeds, and tries to staunch her wound with surgical pinchers, while the Frida in peasant dress, the artist with the connection to her Mexican heritage is still loved by herself, and does not bleed. Anyone who has ever experienced a loss, or been in a difficult relationship with mixed emotions can relate to Kahlo's sense of division.

This work is powerful testimony to the fact that self-portraits of events in the artist's life can still be rendered relevant and timeless. It also demonstrates how surrealism and primitivism can be made into personal psychological expressions that transcend cleverness or mere replications of old styles. The work should be viewed as one in a life series of self-portraits, as again and again Frida Kahlo painted self-portraits that used symbolism to express her moods and emotions. Biographer Hayden Herrera writes in an interview: "I think she, I think part of it was a needing to know herself and to sort...

This was sort of a concrete thing. If you paint yourself, you're permanently there. And if you're about to...if you feel so mortal as she did and so on the edge of having, she did almost die in the accident, I think making this concrete image of herself made her feel safer in some way."
One does not need to know the story of Kahlo's life, however, to appreciate the strange solidity of the painting, with its earth colors and the grounded nature of the two women, sitting heavily in chairs, clasping one another as if for dear life. The precarious depiction of their hearts and the fragility of the curling visible arteries away from the hearts use personal symbolism in a universally comprehensible manner. The peasant woman's heart is not broken and bleeding, merely exposed, and the different parts of the artist's self cope with the loss in different ways. The startling brilliance of rendering the pain of a loss in a transcendent fashion and relating it to the ages through modern primivism is why Frida's work still captivates viewers today.

Works Cited

The Two Fridas. Frida Kahlo's works of art. PBS.com. March 17, 2009. http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/worksofart/index.html

An interview with Amy Steckler Hayden Herrera. Understanding Frida Today. PBS.com.

March 17, 2009. http://www.pbs.org/weta/fridakahlo/today/herrera.html