Mon Laferte Confronts Her Traumatic Past Through Powerful Visual Art 

Mon Laferte Confronts Her Traumatic Past Through Powerful Visual Art 
Credit: Secretaría de Cultura Ciudad de México from México/ Instagram @monlafertevisuals

Mon Laferte, the renowned Chilean artist, recently shared a candid letter that has a lot of people in their feelings. The letter, which was published in response to backlash surrounding her exhibition Te amo, Mon Laferte Visual at the Parque Cultural de Valparaíso, addresses the challenges and trauma she has endured throughout her life. The exhibition has been criticized for the perceived favoritism that allowed it to be extended, especially given that Chile’s President Gabriel Boric attended, leading some to question whether meritocracy or connections played a role in her success. 

Mon LaFerte Shares the Darkness That Hovers Over Her Art

In the letter, Laferte recounts painful personal experiences, beginning with her abuse at the age of seven. She describes how this early trauma led to a downward spiral into alcoholism, drug use, and sexual abuse from a man 20 years her senior, who she claims exploited her by taking half of the earnings from her performances. By the time she was 13, Laferte was forced to leave school and work to support herself and her family. She worked in a variety of environments, singing in the streets, bars, and circuses. 

Throughout these struggles, Laferte explains how she was driven to creative expression, despite not having formal education or a degree. Her art became a way to survive and process the pain she was experiencing. The hardships she faced included caring for her grandmother, who had suffered a stroke, using the money she earned from performing to buy necessities for her family. Laferte reflects on how she often lived in poverty, facing depression and even contemplating suicide, yet she found solace in music and painting. 

Her struggles didn’t end with her early years. Laferte also speaks of her battle with thyroid cancer, which led to a surgery that resulted in facial paralysis. Despite the advice from doctors to refrain from singing for six months, she returned to performing after just two months, determined to continue working. She also acknowledges her past issues with alcohol, which severely impacted her life, including physical tremors and an inability to dress or feed herself during withdrawal. 

Despite these challenges, Laferte achieved massive success as an independent artist with her album released at the age of 31. She reflects on her journey through poverty, abuse, and addiction, asserting that her struggles were integral to her creative growth. Through it all, she found a therapeutic outlet in painting, a medium she embraced later in life, with her first museum visit occurring only when she was 30 years old. 

Now, as a successful musician with eight albums and over a thousand visual artworks, Laferte recognizes that her rise to fame has placed her in an uncomfortable position. She identifies as an outsider, acknowledging that her background and struggles set her apart from the typical “bourgeois” class she now inhabits. Despite her success, she continues to question her place in the art world, often doubting her own value as an artist and as a mother. 

In her letter, Laferte makes it clear that her success is the result of resilience and a refusal to be defeated by her past. She stresses that while she does not intend to take anyone’s place, she will not apologize for occupying the space she has earned. Her words, filled with raw emotion, highlight the importance of perseverance and the healing power of art. 

For Image credit or remove please email for immediate removal - info@belatina.com