soapbox.

it's in the blood.

i was completely blown away when andrea mary marshall sent over these images ( for me to post about over here on hi-fructose) of a series of mixed media pieces featuring frida kahlo.

i have always had a hard time talking / writing about what exactly frida's work means to me and why her and her work holds such a strong stranglehold on psyche. . . . but i find that the potent convergence of physical pain, love & psychic traumas in her work is also rooted in the name i chose for my jewelry.

 blood in visual art is, for me, a visceral ritual and intensely provocative & it runs rampant in frida's work. i like the idea of blood taking on other identities; metaphors for things hidden brought to the surface, a literal letting of inner wounds. coupled with the nurturing aspect of 'milk', the two words become a conjoined pair of visual opposites that share similar natural traits. i like to think my work shares this quality, a confession, a line of jewels as words or wounds or talismans. . . .

xo

waiting for you on the other side.

as this blog occasionally likes to wear the strange skins of a fashion blog, i offer yet another incarnation of the lovely frida k from the pages of marie claire italia. mixed feelings for sure, as always when i happen upon these quirky editorials.

xo

else mora does frida kahlo

today i was lucky enough to find this paper cut necklace based on this frida kahlo self portrait. much like i imagine stencil making being, paper art seems to be a painstaking process meant for the patient and steady of hand. however, especially in the case of elsa mora's work, it's often incredibly delicate and beautiful. i highly recommend voyaging through all three of her blogs, they are overflowing with lovely inspiration and artwork.

elsa wearing her handmade necklace.

her etsy shop, which is filled with original and printed versions of her fantastical papercuts, recently began selling paper cutting patterns for those of you curious about the process.  

XOXO

lately i've been recovering from a serious back injury that has left me bedridden and unable to paint, make jewelry, and up until now, write. during times of lucidity i have been thinking more and more of one of my lifelong inspirations, frida kahlo. due to multiple surgeries as the result of a terrible accident she endured when she was in high school, frida spent many long periods of her life bedridden and immobile. yet, somehow she found the inner strength to still paint and created many of her best works in bed bound in a plaster corset. above is an image from a beautiful editorial of frida from a new magazine dujour and below is one of my favorite paintings of hers, 'the dream' which i have hanging at eye level next to my bed. i hope to be painting soon and sharing the new work i'll be creating for my next solo show in august at mew gallery.