PASTICHE FICTION BY: Brenda Molina
ARTIST STATEMENT: This piece is based on our reading of Il Camaleonte by Selby Wynn Schwartz. Selby compares Fregoli to a chameleon, and that comparison tells us a lot about him. Just as a chameleon changes colors, Fregoli changes himself in many ways. He is a quick-change artist that always switches roles. Selby’s technique makes the character easier to picture and understand.
I used this same technique in my story about Frida Kahlo, who was was born in 1907 in Coyoacán, Mexico City and grew up to become one of Mexico’s greatest, most well-known artists. Instead of just describing Frida, I compared her to a butterfly. A butterfly starts small, then goes through a hard process before it becomes something bright and full of life. Frida went through her own painful stages because of her accident and everything she faced, but she still grew and changed into a powerful artist.
I compared Diego Rivera to an art studio to show how he brought creativity, color, and chaos into Frida’s life. This is similar to how Selby explains Fregoli’s relationship with his wife; he names his house after his wife, Velia. This technique helps the reader understand the characters more clearly without me having to tell them everything directly about Frida’s life. While working on this, I learned that simple comparisons can help tell a deeper story.
ABOUT THIS STORY
Introduction by Prof. Jennifer Sears
Brenda’s story stands out to me for its vivid use of imagery and surprising juxtaposition.
In our ENG 2144: Writing Fiction class, we dissected an excerpt from Selby Wynn Schwartz’s A Life in Chameleons (Reflex Press) as one approach for understanding and experimenting with collage fiction.
Brenda’s narrative, which draws from research and her personal connection with the iconic Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, offers the reader new handholds for envisioning these enormous lives.
Congratulations to Brenda for graduating with a Minor in Creative Writing this semester!
Frida
Frida had a strong look that made her stand out. She wore her traditional Tehuana dresses proudly, which were colorful, long, and decorated with flowers and embroidery. These dresses often had bright colors like red, blue, yellow, or green, showing her love for Mexican culture. She also wore a flowered headdress in her hair, sometimes with ribbons woven in and having her hair beautifully braided and pinned up. On top of that, she wore gold jewelry big earrings, necklaces, and bracelets that added more brightness to her look.
One of her most famous features was her unibrow. Instead of hiding it, she embraced it, making it part of her identity. She also had a light mustache, which she showed she didn’t feel the need to change herself for anyone. Everything about her appearance showed confidence, culture, and strength. She looked like a woman who had full control of who she was, and she didn’t try to be like anyone else.
Butterflies go through a long transformation, starting as something small and hidden, then becoming something beautiful, bright, and free.
Frida’s life was similar. She began as a young girl with dreams of becoming a doctor, but after her bus accident, she had to change the direction of her life. Even though she was physically injured and often in pain, she transformed into a powerful artist.
Her “wings,” in a way, were her paintings. Frida’s paintings spread out into the world and carried her story with them. Just like a butterfly that had to struggle to break out of its cocoon, Frida struggled through her injuries and her personal battles, but she still managed to rise and create art that would be remembered forever.
A butterfly’s wings are delicate, yet strong, and that is how Frida was fragile on the outside because of her health, but incredibly strong on the inside because of her spirit and creativity.
La Casa Azul & Diego
There was one place where Frida felt most like herself which was her home, La Casa Azul, also known as “The Blue House.”
This house wasn’t just a place to live but was where Frida grew up, returned after her accident, and began to paint seriously. Filled with bright colors blue walls, green plants, red floors, and yellow decorations, it felt alive with culture, memories, and personal history.
In La Casa Azul, Frida felt surrounded by everything that made her who she was. She was close to her roots, her family, and the things that brought her comfort. The house became her safe space where she could paint, think, and express her emotions freely.
When she was away from her home, she often felt homesick and disconnected, but at La Casa Azul, she felt whole.
Her paintings were deeply connected to this place, and it influenced her style, her colors, and her feelings. Today, La Casa Azul is a museum because it holds so much of Frida’s identity. It was her sanctuary, where she could face her pain and turn it into art.
Diego Rivera was a famous Mexican muralist, and Frida admired his work even before she met him. Once they met, Diego recognized her talent and encouraged her to keep painting.
Their relationship was full of passion but also full of challenges. They married in 1929, and although they loved each other deeply, their marriage had many difficulties. They both had strong personalities, and both had affairs that hurt the other. Diego often worked far away on his murals, and that distance sometimes made things harder. Still, they always found their way back to each other.
Frida said Diego was not only the love of her life, but also one of her biggest inspirations. Even though their relationship wasn’t perfect, it shaped a lot of her artwork. Some of her paintings show their love, while others reveal the pain and jealousy she felt. Diego was an important part of her story because he influenced her emotionally, spiritually, and artistically.
Frida could even compare Diego Rivera to an art studio because he was a place full of inspiration and chaos at the same time. Just like an art studio is messy and creative, Diego brought both disorder and passion into her life. He was filled with ideas, colors, and big dreams that pushed Frida to paint more and discover new parts of herself.
Being with Diego felt like stepping into a room overflowing with unfinished paintings that is beautiful, complicated, and constantly changing. Even though he wasn’t perfect, Frida saw him as a space where she could grow as an artist.
Diego challenged her, supported her, and sometimes confused her, but he always pushed her creativity the way an art studio pushes an artist to think differently and make something new.
To Frida, Diego was not just a husband he was like the studio where she created some of her strongest emotions and artwork.
The Accident
Frida also experienced tragedy, which shaped who she became.
The biggest tragedy in her life was the bus accident she suffered when she was eighteen. This accident changed everything. She was left with lifelong injuries, many surgeries, and constant pain. Her dream of becoming a doctor was destroyed.
She had to learn to walk again, and she spent months bedridden.
Later in life, she suffered even more injuries and had to deal with emotional pain from her marriage problems. She also had several miscarriages, which broke her heart and inspired some of her most emotional paintings.
These tragedies didn’t break her spirit, though. Instead, they pushed her to paint more honestly. She used her art to express what she couldn’t say out loud. Through her tragedy, Frida found her voice as an artist and discovered her purpose.
In the end, Frida Kahlo’s life was full of color, pain, culture, and love. Her appearance made her unforgettable, her strength made her inspiring, and her tragedy made her relatable. She was like a butterfly who kept rising despite her struggles.
