"I never paint dreams or nightmares. I paint my own reality." --Frida Kahlo

Though they have all addressed different issues, the three artists Cui Xiuwen, Cindy Sherman, and Frida Kahlo study gender issues in their contemporary societies. In reference to her "Angel" series, Xiuwen states how young women are more and more becoming pregnant in her local society and around the world. Though her pieces do not seem to place a value judgment referencing this trend, she does mention that she feels it is becoming a problem. By her repetitive images of the same young woman in this series, I think she is depicting a redundancy of young pregnancy. The title "Angel" is an interesting title, because it could have several meanings. One meaning could be the obvious innocence of youth and the beauty of pregnancy. Another could be the death of youth in exchange for motherhood. Regardless, the settings have an airy, "heavenly" quality that adds to the "angelic" pieces.
Like Xiuwen, Frida Kahlo addresses the subject of pregnancy in several of her pieces, however her pieces are much less hopeful and light. Kahlo has the overt subjects reflecting her own challenges in her life. While Xiuwen's pieces challenge the "problem" of youth pregnancy, Kahlo's pieces address the complete opposite-- her miscarriages and infertility. In "Henry Ford Hospital," Kahlo depiction of herself includes images of biological parts necessary for pregnancy, however they are only attached to her by red lines-- perhaps conceptual umbilical cords? This is clearly a tangible representation of her suffering over the loss of her child.
Sherman addresses the depictions of women in film, and does not really address fertility and motherhood like Xiuwen and Kahlo. However, like Kahlo, Sherman repeatedly includes her own image within her work. Kahlo created several self-portraits, but many of her works contained other subjects where her presence in the composition was not the main focus. A particular piece of Kahlo's that I think parallels Sherman's work is "The Two Fridas," because it depicts her "wife" persona in the public sphere next to her heartbroken persona. Sherman's work challenges the whole concept of the public sphere personas to which women of her time are often expected to confine themselves.