Art alone can spark revolution, no matter what medium. Whether it be through painting, poetry, or photography—art of any form can incite both anguish and rage.
Mexican artist and revolutionary Frida Kahlo provided exactly this. Frida Kahlo serves as a groundbreaking and influential woman among chingonas everywhere—from her painted unibrow to her crown of flowers, Frida Kahlo’s image has grown to be iconic in every sense of the word.
Student-artist Karla Camacho, a studio art major at California State University, Long Beach, was invited by the L Project, a community organization that pushes for safe spaces for queer Latinx people, to participate in a festival celebrating the life and legacy of Frida Kahlo—Frida Fest. The festival was a daylong event that took place on Saturday.
Camacho began work on the piece on display that would exemplify the fluidity of Frida Kahlo’s gender expression as well as her multifaceted personality that, Camacho says, is often glossed over in favor of viewing Kahlo as a single-purpose being.
“I feel that when we idolize people who no longer exist, we tend to reduce them to being a one-dimensional person.” Camacho said. “I’m trying to bring out the queerness in Frida, and also the fact that she wasn’t just an artist—she was a lover, she was a revolutionary, she was a feminist.”
To portray the multifaceted layers of Frida Kahlo, Camacho painted the woman donning a suit on one side of her canvas—on the other, a depiction of Kahlo wearing traditional Mexican dresses with her iconic flowers twined in her braids.
The image is progressive because very few people know Kahlo’s gender fluidity, Camacho said. It is inherently problematic to view an openly queer woman as solely feminine, so to portray her as both conventionally masculine and conventionally feminine in the same painting is revolutionary in its own right, she said. It defies the standard idea of what it is to be a woman.
Camacho’s peers and admirers know her through her progressive art concepts that are rich in Latina culture and her identity as a queer woman of color. Having immigrated from Mexico in her youth, Camacho’s art is inspired by both her experiences as an immigrant in the United States and the close bonds with her own heritage.
“Having the privilege of being binational, I saw the struggles of both Mexico and the United States, along with experiencing the personal struggles my family has gone through,” Camacho said. “Art helps me heal from my own trauma, and from my own sh-t that I’ve been through—but I feel activism gives me my voice.”
Camacho participates in protests and marches throughout Los Angeles County, engaging in her community through her affiliations both on campus and in her community.
“Art can bring awareness just as protesting or marching can; art can make you uncomfortable,” Camacho said. “Your presence and your voice can make people feel uncomfortable and bring awareness.”
Camacho said she claims her identity as a queer Latina and uses her platform as an artist/activist to empower both herself and her community. Events like Frida Fest are incredibly important to Camacho because she believes that these spaces for marginalized or unrepresented people are vital to have.
“This project, Frida Fest, is specifically for queer women of color,” Camacho said. “If I can claim this space to bring my art, to bring my own awareness of Frida, of what it means to be a queer artist—then I want to do that.”
Having safe spaces such as these for queer women of color helps provide a more understanding environment for people of all identities, Camacho said.
Camacho plans on continuing using her platform to spark both inspiration and empowerment in her audience, filling these safe spaces with both her art and her impactful message of strength through the reclamation of identity.