Homage to Frida Kahlo's "Wounded Table"

About the Hoop

This 16" x 27" hoop recreates one of my favorite paintings: Frida's now-lost masterpiece, "The Wounded Table" (1940). It felt especially meaningful, like an act of recovery, to embroider a version of an artwork that can no longer be seen anywhere in the world. I mimicked Frida's loose, flowing hairstyle in the painting by using long, single strands of thread, draping some of them over the coiled wire arms of the skeleton beside her (which were made from silver bullion). The cacti and foliage employ a mixture of sequins, french knots, and stitchwork. I sewed the tassels onto draped fabric to replicate the curtains. One of the biggest challenges I faced was mimicking the texture of wood in the table and the stage. That required long, thin threadwork and careful attention to color. To capture the fluid intensity of the clouds, I settled on a mixture of smooth and textured embroidery stitches. 

Scroll down for more images. Please contact me if interested in purchase or exhibition.

About the Painting

"The Wounded Table" is the only other artwork that Kahlo created on the scale of “The Two Fridas.” The image references "The Last Supper." It was painted following Diego’s affair with Frida’s sister, Cristina. Note that the papier-mâché Judas figure has features resembling both Diego and Frida, marking them both as betrayers. Frida sent the painting to Russia for an exhibition that was later cancelled, and it was last seen in Warsaw, Poland. It has not been recovered. 

While working on the project, I noticed numerous details that I hadn’t seen in the painting before. For example, every figure--both animate and inanimate--embodies Frida in some way. The Judas has her monobrow. The skeleton exhibits the same injuries that she herself suffered in the trolley crash. The wooden or wounded legs of all three figures (and the flayed legs of the oozing, bloody table itself) link to her damaged leg and are indicative of a psychic space in which Frida is repeatedly made manifest. Each figure at the table is connected to one another. Only her pet deer remains separate from her, unharmed. 

Return to home page to see more hoops!