Entering this first novel by the Venezuelan painter Rosa Maria Unda Souki, one lets oneself be seduced first by the delicate sketches in graphite and blue ink, then by the shimmering colors of the fifty or so paintings selected by the artist. author who were inspired by Frida Kahlo. “I took my brushes and started painting his story, his memory, his house. A hundred paintings and drawings to resuscitate the smells, the colors, the sounds, the rhythms, the presences, all the material of his life of life. As fascinating as the artist’s approach is, who comments on his own writings with humor in the margins, the illustrated autofiction that results from it does not quite manage to convince. By dint of making connections between her own life and that of the Mexican painter, Rosa Maria Unda Souki delivers a text that is certainly touching, but above all redundant, which sheds little light on each of the works. In short, we look in vain for the soul of Frida.
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