Medora Frei
Minneapolis, MN
“I’ve learned a lot about trusting your instincts, whether in life or in art. I’ve also learned the importance of a supportive community and the importance of using your voice, whether truly vocally or through art or activism.”
While Medora Frei (she/her) was always creative, she had no idea that art would save her during a particularly difficult time in her life. At age 18, Medora was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis. After experiencing years of mysterious symptoms with no answer, this diagnosis was a resolution yet also the beginning of a new, arduous journey. At the time, photography helped her find beauty amid the mental health challenges she experienced in processing her diagnosis.
Medora continued experimenting with her creative side as she was dealt more hurdles. Soon after her diagnosis, her husband suffered two heart attacks during a single day. Thankfully, her husband recovered from the resulting weeks-long coma and hospitalization, with Medora there for him every step of the way. After this, Medora began to paint. She painted to release the trauma of these medical incidents, to pull herself out of darkness, and work through her own pain.
“I start most new pieces by first taking account of how I’m feeling. I take a moment to breathe and connect with myself and my emotions. Then I start painting the first layers, which are normally acrylic and water. I essentially try to paint whatever I’m feeling on the inside and what I feel that may look like, like trying to translate it onto canvas. Sometimes I have music on, sometimes in silence. I always paint on the floor, not upright on an easel. I then add layers from there.”
Medora’s process of painting can change with whatever mood she finds herself in; she is inspired by the people around her, colors she sees throughout the day, experiences that in turn anger her or create a feeling of bliss. Working in a variety of dimensions, a large abstract piece may take weeks or even months to complete, whereas a smaller paper piece may be completed within one work session. While the size of her work varies, one thing does not: “One of my favorite tools I work with are actually the hotel key cards from when my husband was in the hospital. I have 4 and they’ve been a part of nearly every painting I’ve done the last 6 years. I use them to glide paint across a piece, kind of in place of a painting knife.”
As an avid volunteer for a number of organizations including animal shelters and sanctuaries, the American Heart Association, as well as her local Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Chapter, joining ArtLifting fits right into Medora’s values of advocacy, justice, healthcare and animal rights. ArtLifting’s mission is particularly important to Medora because she feels strongly that “all artists share the same values of uplifting one another and giving everyone a voice and letting people’s talents be shown.” To tell her story and inspire others to find healing through art, Medora published her first book in 2023. The book, These Are My Flowers: My Story of Composting Trauma Into Colorful Art, is a compilation of art, poems, and memoir-style stories that explores the many ways art composts her pain into something meaningful.
Medora’s work emanates authenticity of emotion to viewers. There is an invisible thread, from each carefully chosen hue, from each confetti like shape, pulled taut from her canvas to her heart and back again to the viewer. “A mentor mentioned how interesting it is that many of my pieces are colorful in contrast to the traumas I have been painting through. During our insightful conversation, I replied, 'I think I use color because it expresses how I want to feel.' Saying the words out loud finally opened me up to some clarity. I paint this way because I long to feel colorful, full of life, and bursting with energy. Trauma and illness beget a tiredness that seems unending. When we feel pain, we feel like dirt. But no one wants to feel like dirt forever. So instead, compost your pain; turn it into something powerful.”
