A La Chingada

A statement from the artist

She's not asking for your permission.

A La Chingada started as a love letter to Frida Kahlo and ended up as something much more personal — a portrait of every woman who has ever been silenced, dismissed, or made small. I layered her with florals and lace and insects and ravens, all the things that are both beautiful and fierce at once. The beads around her neck spell it out. She's not whispering it.

Frida knew what it meant to live in a body the world had opinions about. She knew what it meant to make art that made people uncomfortable. She knew what it meant to say a la chingada — to hell with all of it — and keep going anyway.

This piece is for every woman who has had to fight to take up space. For the ones who are still fighting. For the ones who are done asking.

She's a shrine. She's a weapon. She's both.

xoxo, Tammy