Overcoming this
Mixed Media (pencil on paper, gold leaf and acrylic on canvas)
As people we are constantly growing and shaping ourselves into individuals. Through hardships and pain, we can grow into the people we are today. The life experiences that we endure can shape and define the way we think and feel, the way we act, the way we love or hate. The challenges and adversity in our life can knock us down but it is us alone as individuals that can choose to overcome these challenges and adversity and get back up.
This year’s school quote is ”Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” and the theme of the art show is ”impossible possible”. Through my artwork I’ve chosen to express these two quotes in a way that conveys the life lessons that both quote’s hold.
The large canvas is an acrylic painting of Frida Kahlo. I chose Frida Kahlo to be my subject matter as her life experiences have shaped and define her as an individual. She had experienced hardships and pain in life that she manages to overcome through hard work, no talent necessary she pulled through with grit and determination. She was able to persevere through the pain that she was experiencing and become a very famous painter. She also did what many people thought would be impossible. She survived. At the age of 18, Kahlo was traveling home from school, when the wooden bus she was in collided with a metal streetcar. She suffered near fatal injuries from an iron handrail impaling her through her pelvis, fracturing the bone. She also fractured several ribs, her legs and her collarbone. As a cause of the accident, it meant she spent several months in the hospital and many months recovering at home. Though she tried to get back to normal life Kahlo continued to experience fatigue and back pain. At times she was in a body cast. The pain she felt never left. The many months recovering in hospital and at home along with the body casts and pain, created a sense of isolation the Kahlo felt.
The bottom face of this painting has her hands reaching out while she screams for help as the isolation and pain becomes too much.
This can be seen many real-life situations for many individuals. As humans we suffer through pain, and we feel a sense of isolation sometimes and all we want to do is scream out for help. In these times it’s important not to give up. It is important to get back up again stare challenges and adversity in the face and tell yourself that you can do it. This is what Kahlo did instead of sitting in bed moping about how her life will never be the same. She painted. She found an escape away back up. The top face is of Frida with deer horns covered in gold. The deer horn symbolises a sense of freedom that she has found as she has gotten herself back up. She has not given up.
While doing research for who I was going to choose as my subject matter I also found Stephen Hawking and Helen Keller as perfect examples of people who, when faced with adversity rose above everything and became the individuals that we know today.
Stephen hawking was diagnosed with motor neurone disease in his early 20s expected only to live two years many thought that the chances of completing his education and unravelling the universe were over. But Hawking defines all odds. He lives for decades more than expected and created the theory of exploding black holes. When challenged with adversity Hawking did not give up. He put the hard-work in. Despite being very talented and smart, losing control over his body and his speech made Stephen work harder to be able to communicate his thoughts and ideas.
Helen Keller is another person who did what was thought to be impossible. Keller became blind and deaf at the age of on and a half. She too, defined all odds against her and became a writer. She wrote several books and over 400 articles, all while being blind and deaf. Keller even wrote using the alphabet that we know and use. She did what was thought to be impossible, she persevered with hard work to learn how to write and produced books and articles without being able to see.
Just like all of us in hard times we should get back up and keep going we should grow as an individual take on these challenges head on don’t rely on talent to get you through life, work hard. Do the impossible make what people think it’s impossible possible.