ABSTRACT
This chapter conveys the idea of feigning reality or representing ideas. In Eastern cultures, painting is held in high regard, like poetry and historiography. Although the preferred paints of many Old Masters were usually oil-based paints, the chapter refers only to water-based paints such as watercolor and acrylic, due to their ease of clean up and the fact that they tend to be less hazardous. Frida Kahlo was an iconic Mexican painter who was celebrated for her uncompromising representation of the female experience, her depictions of her personal struggles, and her embracing of national and indigenous traditions in her work and life. Her work represents two therapeutic aspects of painting: the self-portrait and the visual documentation of emotional and physical pain as it is experienced in the body. The chapter refers to the ex-votos of the Italians and Mexicans, primarily, because they share many functions and structural similarities.
