“As i am being inspired by you, Doña Frida, i drink in what i like to think of as your essence so as to create a Frida of my own, in my own mind’s eye… in that fantastic sphere, the various elements of Doña Frida and myself mix into a muddle, a chemical reaction occurs, creating this imaginary Frida of mine. I wanted to give form to what Doña Frida is to me. Via self-portraiture, that is.” — Yasumasa Morimura

In Morimura’s ‘Inner Dialogue With Frida Kahlo’ he casts himself as the world famous Mexican artist known for her lush, surreal self-portraits.

“A Few Small Nips” features a woman who is, in Frida’s own words, being “murdered by life” — physically by chronic pain and suffering, and emotionally by Diego Rivera’s numerous affairs. The painting is based on a newspaper account of a real murder, in which a man stabbed his girlfriend repeatedly. In court, the murderer reportedly said: “But I only gave her a few small nips.”