YEAR 11 UNIT 2 THEORY TASK
JOY HESTER & FRIDA KAHLO
Read the information given on Kahlo and Hester and choose one artwork by each artist. Use at least three references to complete the following
table.
Questions
What is the title of the
artwork you have chosen?
Joy Hester
Frida Kahlo
Joy Hester
Girl With
Book on
Head
Henry Ford Hospital 1932 Oil on Metal
List the formal elements
used in the artwork. Eg.
Line, tone, shape, colour,
Elements: Colour, line, tone, shape/form.
Principles: Space, balance, emphasis
Elements: Colour, line, shape (organic), tone.
Principles: Emphasis, proportion, balance, contrast, unity.
scale, repetition, colour
etc.
How have these elements
been used to produce
aesthetic qualities in the
artwork?
Hester has used a palette of warm natural hues to
produce this artwork. A girl sits holding an open book
over her head as if she is looking for a place to hide.
Her legs are crossed and her shoulders hunched under
her hair as she rests her hands underneath the book.
The figure of the girl takes up most of the composition
leaving very little negative space. While this is the
case, a low division can be seen in the background
through the contrast of a brick red colour against a
dark navy. A sense of balance is created through this
division and also through the fact that the girl
dominates the centre of the work.
A variety of thin and thickly applied line has been used
to outline the organic forms that make up the figure.
The use of ink in this artwork has allowed Hester to
produce her lines freely and use a wash to build up
tone in the folds of the girl’s dress and the shadows
that loom underneath the book.
The girl’s arms reach upwards framing both sides of
her face. This along with her mysterious expression
emphasises her face as the focal point. The viewer is
encouraged to look into the eyes of the girl and
determine the reason she is attempting to hide.
Kahlo has placed a low horizon line in the background of
this artwork through contrasting a light blue sky against a
dark brown hue on the ground. An industrial cityscape can
be seen on the horizon line and a surreal like image of a
bed with what is assumed to be the figure of the artist
reclining on it is placed in the middle foreground of the
work. The placement of this subject matter as the focal
point gives a sense of balance to the composition. Shape
has been used organically to form a number of symbolic
images floating around the bed including a baby, a snail, a
flower and what looks to be the bones of a woman’s womb.
These images are produced from a palette of warm and
cool natural hues. To develop a three-dimensional effect,
Kahlo has built up tone to create shadow. While this is the
case, the subject matter still appears to be unrealistic and is
presented to the viewer in a strongly symbolic form.
Emphasis is placed on the floating images because they
appear to be larger in proportion than the figure. It is from
these images and the blood underneath the figure that we
assume the artwork communicates the emotional response
to a miscarriage or other incident during childbirth. This is
also apparent through the tear in the woman’s eye and the
red curving lines (perhaps an umbilical cord) that she
clasps onto. All the objects around her are tied to this cord
connecting everything to the central figure and producing a
sense of unity in the work. The bed has ‘Henry Ford
Hospital’ printed around it and this indicates to us that it is
What idea or message is
the artist communicating
in their artwork?
Has the artist used signs or
symbols in their artwork to
communicate this
message? What
symbols/signs have been
used?
How has the artist
developed a distinctive
style in their artwork?
The innocence of being young and believing that it is
easy to hide behind something to change your reality
and slip into a state of imagination.
Sadness in the way a child’s life can be so bad that
they are forced to hide behind a fantasy of what they
want their life to be.
a hospital bed.
Kahlo could be communicating her emotional response to
the trauma of miscarriage that she experienced.
The book as a symbol of escape.
The girl as a symbol of Hester’s childhood or
innocence.
The eyes as a doorway to the soul.
The figure has been used to represent the artist herself.
The baby has been used to represent the child she lost.
The cord as a symbol of the umbilical cord and its
connection to the female during pregnancy and childbirth.
The blood underneath the figure to reflect the pain
associated with implications at birth. The torso and flower
as a symbol of femininity.
Her use of ink on paper in a spontaneous manner. Her
artworks were reflective of her worries, fears, joys, her
experiences and ideas on love, death relationships and
violence.
She did not complete murals like the Mexican muralists of
her day. Instead she produced her artwork to tell the story
of her life (a biography) ‘She painted the events of her life
and her emotional responses to them.’ The influence of
Mexican Folk Art and use of small votive pictures known
as retablos in her artwork also contributes to her distinctive
style.