The imaginary of motherhood in Frida Kahlo

Abstract

The imaginary of pain and motherhood in Frida Kahlo raises a reflection on the balance between the images present in consciousness as opposed to the dream field. In this sense, how to think the surrealism that many critics insist on labeling Frida's art? Our method is based on the analysis of some of Frida's paintings and her dialogue with phenomenological thinking about images, questioning the surrealist movement as a mere manifestation of the unconscious in art. The notion of motherhood is in agreement with the thinking of social groupings and spheres, as postulated by the philosopher Peter Sloterdijk. Our aim is to find out how Kahlo’s artistic objects reveal the existence of pain and the maternal sense as immediate data of consciousness.