ROCK BOTTOM is a celebration of the now-famous survivors of human tribulation. This series of illustrations depicts “rock bottom” as a place where the successful nurtured their ambition and took risks that eventually propelled them to succeed.
Mexican painter Frida Kahlo was eighteen years old when she was in a terrible traffic accident leaving her with injuries that plagued her health for the rest of her life. From her hospital bed, she learned to draw and paint. Her pain and suffering were subjects she frequently painted into her self-portraits.
Alice Walker was accidentally blinded by a stray BB gun bullet when she was eight years old. Due her fear of being bullied and the apparent scarring in her right eye, she withdrew socially and isolated herself in her parents’ fields where she honed her reading and writing skills.
At fifteen years old, Malala Yousafzai is the youngest nominee of the Nobel Peace Prize. Due to her role as an educational and women’s rights activist in Pakistan, Malala was targeted by the Taliban and subsequently shot in the head. The worldwide attention she gained from the ordeal has caused many influential and powerful people to help her with her cause.
Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, witnessed great adversity in Tibet while he was forced into exile from his homeland. As a result of this, he was able to bring Buddhist teachings to the West and promote interfaith dialogue between major religions of the world.
Angelina Jolie, now an Academy Award-winning actress and humanitarian, conquered childhood bullying, depression, substance abuse, among many other traumatic experiences that allowed her to eventually portray an extremely diverse range of roles and inspired her humanitarian work.
Maya Plisetskaya’s family was sent into turmoil when her father was taken away and executed for their Jewish heritage. Soon after his death, her pregnant mother was sent to work in a labour camp. Throughout this, Maya lived with her aunt and trained hard to pursue her passion – dance. She became the prima ballerina of the Bolshoi Ballet of Moscow and her success eventually allowed her to dance well into her sixties.
