Self Portrait along the Boarder Line between Mexico and the United States

Self Portrait along the Boarder Line between Mexico and the United States
Self Portrait along the Boarder Line between Mexico and the United States

In this painting, Self Portrait Along the Boarder Line Between Mexico and the United States, Frida expressed her where her heart belongs to. At that time, Diego Rivera was working on the mural for the Detroit Institute of Arts, but Frida was long for her hometown, Mexico's ancient agricultural culture. In this painting, Frida was wearing a sweet pink dress and lace gloves. As in her other self-portraits, her nipples show under the frock. Her face has a mischievous expression. As an indication of her defiance, she was holding a cigarette in her right hand. On another hand, she was holding a small Mexican flag, which is a symbol of her loyalty to her home country.

Frida was standing on a boundary stone. On the stone, which marks the border between the United States and Mexico, it was engraved "Carmen Rivera painted her portrait in 1932." She used her Christian first name and her husband's last name. It's an indication that she feels she always pretends to be proper with her slightly incorrect English. Or maybe she use that name because it shows up in some of the newspapers. Diego Rivera once introduced Frida to the Detroit journalists using his awkward English: "His name is Carmen".

In the background of this painting, there is a sun and a quarter moon both in clouds and they created a bolt of lighting when they touch. In contrast to that, on the right side of this painting, which is the United States, a single could hang over it which is formed by smokes from four chimney stacks labeled FORD. On the Mexican side, there lies a partially ruined pre-Columbian temple. While the United States has lots of skyscrapers, Mexico has pre-Columbian fertility idols, a skull and a pile of rubble. At the bottom of the painting, Mexico has exotic plants with white roots, while the United States only has some machines with black electric cords.