My interpretation of Marilyn Monroe has been created using the same style as my 2016 ‘Unrequited’ and ‘Little Wing’ pieces. It therefore allows for a really beautiful interpretation of such a recognised icon and her classic pose. You see so many interpretations of Marilyn that paint her as something that she wasn’t so I wanted to go down a different route and embrace her beauty. This is why I chose to name the piece as ‘Norma Jeane’, her birth name so essentially stripping everything back, back to beauty.
Her body is created using single hearts to acknowledge how much she loved and was loved whilst her dress has been created with angel wing feathers which not only looks beautiful but is a subtle nod to her passing and being free from the darkness that existed in Hollywood. This darkness that followed her is depicted in small smoke detailing that clings to the bottom of her dress. The piece has abstract markings on as a subtle reference to the Subway grate updraft that caused her dress to lift up and create such an iconic image.
