Final answer:
Frida Kahlo's artwork was heavily influenced by her experiences during the Mexican Revolution, her severe injuries from a bus accident, and her turbulent marriage to Diego Rivera.
Step-by-step explanation:
The life experiences that most influenced Frida Kahlo's artwork are deeply intertwined with her personal struggles and the cultural context she lived in. Grown during the Mexican Revolution, Kahlo was exposed to political upheaval and nationalistic fervor, which later reflected in her support for political and cultural nationalism.
A severe bus accident at the age of eighteen left her with chronic pain and injuries, compelling her to paint from her bed, using a mirror to create self-portraits. Her tumultuous marriage to Diego Rivera, the betrayal, and her complicated health issues pervasively influenced her art.
For instance, in her painting 'The Two Fridas', she illustrated a duality within herself by depicting two versions wearing different dresses, one traditional Tehuana and one European Victorian, showing her dual cultural identity and personal strife after her divorce with Rivera.
Kahlo's artwork is rich with symbology, often incorporating motifs from Mexican folklore, religious images, and her own suffering. Self-portraiture was a means for her to express and process her emotional and physical pain. Her politics, personal experiences, and physical disability are deeply visible in the symbols and subjects in her work.
Despite that she occasionally expressed affinity with Surrealism, Kahlo always emphasized that she painted her reality, not dreams. Her bold expression of her life experiences and Mexican culture over time remains a testament to her enduring legacy in the arts.