Self-portrait paintings are intriguing to me. Even more intriguing is the fact that a famous artist painted herself as the main subject in many of her works because in her own words: "I paint myself because I am so often alone, because I am the subject I know best".
Image above from WikiArt (Visual Art Encyclopedia), "Self Portrait, Dedicated to Dr Eloesser" by Frida Kahlo
Mexican Artist Frida Kahlo did not have an easy life. At 18, a terrible bus accident left her body in considerable damage and pain for the rest of her life - and that was how painting became her solace. Of her 143 paintings, 55 are self-portraits.
This year, we paid homage to one of Frida Kahlo's self-portraits from 1940 - a portrait of the artist herself that was dedicated as a gift to one Dr Eloesser, a doctor friend who had helped her in her medical treatment.
When working on this theme over the 4 weeks, our young artists have numerous questions about Frida Kahlo and we would like to share some of their words here along with a short video of them working hard on their version of Frida's self-portrait.
Ethan, 9 yrs old
"Why does she have a moustache?"
"So scary"
Swee Tze, 10 yrs old
"What is that on her neck?"
"You mean she painted when she was lying on the bed for recovery?"
Rong En, 6yrs old
"You mean her husband left her?"
"I like the flowers most. Decoration."