--Comparison of Artists--

.:: Cui Xiuwen ::. Xiuwen's photos use a young girl as the model, not herself. In her 'One Day in 2004' series, she uses a young girl dressed in a school uniform to portray the innocence and vulnerability of young children. Xiuwen's photos in that series also show the struggles of childhood in China. Most of the colors used in that series contain white, black, red and blue. She also uses the buildings in China as the background for most of her photos in that series. In her 'Angel' series, she also uses a young girl as the subject. The girl is pregnant and is wearing a white dress with a black stripe on it. White symbolizes purity and innocence, which I find very ironic in these photos considering the subject probably lost her innocence when she became pregnant. The series shows the issue of teen pregnancy in China. Xiuwen's photos in this series also show the struggle of pregnant women such as mood swings, fatigue, cramps, etc. The young girl is posed differently in the shots to portray these feelings. The background used in this series are mostly buildings of China and beautiful landscapes. Blue skies are used a lot in this series, but the young girl is still the main subject of the photos. She also had some photos that had multiple shots of the girl, like a collage. I personally think Cui Xiuwen's photos were very interesting and beautiful.

.:: Cindy Sherman ::.We have already looked at Cindy Sherman's work in the past, but I'll describe her work again. She mostly uses herself as the subject in her photos. In her 'Untitled Film Stills' series, she is dressed up in different outfits. She tries out different female roles such as a homecooker, businesswoman, etc. The photos in this series are black and white. In her other series, the photos are dark, scary, gloomy and eerie. They look like scenes from a horror movie because she has some photos that are gory. But I think her photos in 'Untitled Film Stills' are still very effective in giving off her message of women roles.

.:: Frida Khalo ::.
Khalo, similar to Sherman, also uses herself as the subject in her paintings. Her paintings are done in oil and have great use of colors. She also dresses up in different outfits showing different personalities that she has. Her paintings reflect on the past hardships in her life. They also incorporate other elements such as animals and other people close to her. Khalo also uses similar elements such as the bold eyebrows in all her pieces to show her independent and strong-willed personality.

Similarities:
The similarities that all three artists have in their works are their message about women, their use of portraits and the way they dress up their subjects in different situations. They also portray hardships and issues in a unique and interesting way.