"When we consider our identity, most of us do not hark back to an accident. Yet, in reality, identity is sometimes forged from the lowest points in life. Mexican artist Frida Kahlo (1907-1954) was only 18 when she was involved in a serious bus accident, leading to devastating injuries that left her bedridden for long periods. This came on top of her childhood encounter with polio which left her with a limp for the rest of her life.

Lemons in Hand
As she turned to paint to cope with her pain, she squeezed her experiences of pain and physical confinement along with the skills she had learned assisting her photographer father to mix together a whole new palette of visual composition. Not only of the world she lived in, but also her own identity—as a woman and a living contradiction of mixed ancestry. "I paint my own reality," she once said (Herrera, 1983)."