Visualising the Zodiac: Cancer
This month belongs to Cancer, the fourth astrological sign of the Zodiac. As a water sign ruled by the moon, Cancers are deeply intuitive, highly emotional creatures. Represented by the crab, they can come across as cold, but in reality, they are incredibly empathic individuals, soaking up the energies of the world around them. An artwork that wholeheartedly embodies Cancer’s sensitive side is Frida Kahlo’s What the Water Gave Me, 1938, now in a private collection. This month also offers an abundance of synchronicity, as not only was Kahlo a Cancer, but ‘Frida: The Making of an Icon’ opens this week at Tate Modern in London.
What the Water Gave Me is a highly intimate self-portrait and has been called Kahlo’s biography. In a conversation with her friend Julien Levy, the artist described it as: “An image of passing time (…) about time and childhood games in the bathtub and the sadness of what had happened to her in the course of her life.” It can therefore be seen as a deeply Cancerian journey into the artist’s inner emotional world, both past and present. Renowned for their intense emotional depth, Cancer is considered one of the most emotionally complex signs. In this painting - one of Kahlo’s most complex and enigmatic works - joy, desire, pain, love, fear, and grief coexist in the same space, bobbing about like fragments of a daydream.
The painting depicts the artist's view while lying in a bathtub; however, instead of showing her face as we might expect, Kahlo paints her feet protruding from the water. Floating in the bath is a surreal collection of images and objects that represent the artist’s memories, pain and trauma, such as a volcano erupting a skyscraper, a pair of lovers on a floating sponge and a dead woodpecker atop a tree. Cancer is thought to be the most nostalgic and sentimental of all the signs; finding it difficult to let things go, they can often hold onto memories and sentimental items alike. Here, the objects in the bath resemble disparate fragments of Kahlo’s life story surfacing from the depths of her memory. The artist presents us with an entire archive of experience, resisting any kind of conventional, linear narrative; her past is dredged up and laid bare. In particular, the volcano is very Cancerian, as it seems to suggest the refusal - or ability - to suppress one’s emotions.
Cancers are also highly attached to the home and to a sense of personal sanctuary, prioritising spaces where they feel safe and nurtured. Here, rather than a public scene, Kahlo uses the setting of a bathtub - an enclosed, intimate space - to bring the viewer into her personal moment of reflection. In an incredibly raw depiction, the artist explores matters of the home and heart, such as her complicated relationship with Diego Rivera, sexuality and fertility.
In the painting, the artist’s feet are visible, but her legs are partially hidden beneath the water. This play on exposure and concealment resembles the Cancerian animal archetype of the crab; soft and vulnerable on the inside, whilst protected by a hard external shell. The work reveals profound personal truths and vulnerabilities while simultaneously veiling them through the use of perplexing symbols, beckoning the viewer to interpret and decode.
Cancer is ruled by the Moon, which governs tides, cycles, reflection and, it is thought, the unconscious mind. Here, the water's reflective surface functions almost like a lunar mirror, revealing hidden, unconscious aspects of the artist’s self. Cancerians are also considered to be the moodiest sign; just as the lunar cycle shifts, their emotions can fluctuate rapidly. We see this played out here; entangled by ropes, roots and threads that wind through the composition, a surreal dance of emotions is penned into one singular space, encapsulating the turmoil of a life lived fully alongside the solace found in its brutal examination. This raw vision of self-excavation resonates profoundly with Cancer’s intense emotional capacity and aptitude for human connection.