Literal Description of Piece:
Upon first gazing at this painting, one’s eyes are immediately captivated by a woman, lying on her side, bound in plant life, or roots. The vividness of the green contrasting with the vibrant orange of the woman’s dress causes this initial drawing of attention. From their one begins to pay attention to detail. The face of the woman can be recognized of that of Kahlo, indicating this is a self portrait. Looking further upon the leaves, one notices where the veins in them run, is blood; a deep red blood that was initially missed because it was not as prominent as the other colors. Although at first it went unnoticed, the foliage is stemming directly from her heart. Gazing into the background of this scene is a desert. There are many hues of brown blended together creating a rather desolate wasteland.
Symbolic Description of Piece:
Barren Roots
Drawing from classical art, artists tried to make their art as mimetic as possible. That is to say they depicted their art to exactness of the model. Art was considered beautiful and well done the closer it resembled the actuality of the object. Following this time, however, was the renaissance period where art changed. Artists depicted the emotions of things and symbolism of ideas, not exactness. This led to interesting facial expressions, props, proportions, and colors. Kahlo’s art resembles that of the renaissance time period and it is clear that she elicits from it. In her painting “Roots” she is depicting many things symbolically.
This is a self portrait of Kahlo entangled about in roots, coming out of her heart, and flowing with blood. One must also take into consideration the barren, desert background in which she lies. Vapid, is the fact that this painting has something to do with her because it is clearly a painting of her. Moving to the roots, one notices they stem from within her. Roots are often associated with one’s family, heritage, or culture. Although Kahlo has roots from her family, the roots die with her.
The blood denotes a literal blood from her. This would be descendents that could come from her, namely children. Her blood would literally run through her kids and her “roots” could continue to another generation. Her roots stop with her because she has no children and has not succeeded in having any. Thus, we see her trapped in a “barren” desert (something that cannot produce life) strangled by her own roots. Clearly she is signifying this barrenness of children and her inner notions of how she is feeling about her own roots.
When initially looking at this piece, one might think it rather strange to see a woman in a barren desert, entangled in bloody roots. However, upon deeper observation it is lucid that there are many parallels between the painting and her life. She is expressing her emotions and her circumstances through her art, something renaissance artists did, and successfully creates a masterpiece.
Work Cited
Kahlo, Frida. Roots. 1943.Sotheby. fridapaintings.com . Web. 9 September 2010.
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