Frida

I always wanted to play an instrument as a child but I was incapable due to undergoing three major surgeries between ages 8 and 11. I was often absent and constantly doing make up assignments. This all happening pre internet in a very small town. My mantra became "Art is my light in solitude and my friend in darkness". After the last successful surgery I grew 7 inches within a year but have always remained aware of my own mortality and the fragility of life. I have come to view these weaknesses of body as the buds of my strength. As we witness with historically significant artists Frida Kahlo and Andy Warhol pain and solitude as a young child is an intense breeding ground for a unique world view. There is something about the reality of death as a child that clears the otherwise foggy lens of adolescence.