Tracey Emin and Frida Kahlo inspire self-portraits after surgery
A writer recovering from a serious operation describes how Tracey Emin and Frida Kahlo influenced her to take self-portraits. Emin, diagnosed with squamous cell bladder cancer in 2020, documented her post-operative body in a mirror self-portrait, showing her catheter, urostomy bag, and disposable knickers. Her defiant gaze challenges norms of illness and subjugation. Emin lost her bladder, uterus, ovaries, lymph nodes, part of her colon, urethra, and part of her vagina. Kahlo's intensely imagined response to traumatic injury also served as inspiration. The writer found meaning in pain through their examples.
Key facts
- Tracey Emin was diagnosed with squamous cell bladder cancer in 2020.
- Emin took a photographic self-portrait in a hospital mirror showing her catheter, urostomy bag, and disposable knickers.
- Emin's gaze in the portrait is described as defiant, challenging subjugation in ill-health.
- Emin lost her bladder, uterus, ovaries, lymph nodes, part of her colon, urethra, and part of her vagina.
- Frida Kahlo's response to traumatic injury inspired the writer.
- The writer took self-portraits while recovering from a serious operation.
- Emin's work refuses to conform to comfort norms regarding her post-operative body.
- The article is published in The Guardian.
Entities
Artists
- Tracey Emin
- Frida Kahlo
Institutions
- The Guardian