Artist Comparison

Marina Abramovic is a widely known performance artist who is recognized for her common use of her own body in her work. Abramovic is also known for encouraging audience participation, often in search of their reactions which become the art. Most of Abramovic’s work embodies an underlying theme of feminism, as well as including her own female form.
Like Abramovic, Cui Xiuwen’s work also portrays a theme of femininity through female sexuality and gender. Xiuwen is also known to use a reoccurring theme of maternity in her work. Xiuwen’s art was commonly based off of her battles with vulnerability, anxiety, and concern; feelings that relate to maternity. Xiuwen’s pieces usually feature a young, pregnant, asian woman, standing/laying/etc alone in a serene setting.
Xiuwen and Frida Kahlo are similar in that both artists find inspiration in their own loneliness and struggles. Kahlo, like Abramovic, uses her own figure as the focal point of her work. Rather than performance art, however, Kahlo is known for her earthy, rustically painted self portraits, which she did so often as a tribute to her time spent alone while healing from a tragically vehicle-related accident in Mexico.
Obviously, these three remarkable female artists share a common theme of femininity in their works, whether it be sexuality, gender, or maternity, as well as the use of their own, or another’s, female figure.