Marilyn: Portrait of an enigma

Swarovski Crystal Marilyn © Claire Milner - 2010-12

The inspiration and meaning behind the portrait

This portrait of Marilyn Monroe was inspired by her own words (shown here in italics) and numerous images representing her in various guises. But who was she? “...my real name was Norma Jeane Baker. They changed it when they decided to build me up. They change whatever they want to...” There are as many different opinions about how she lived as about how she died.

In my portrait I tried to capture some of the complicated and contradictary aspects of Marilyn - the glitter and the public facade, the sadness in the eyes.. "I was never used to being happy, so that wasn't something I ever took for granted. I did sort of think, you know, marriage did that. You see, I was brought up differently from the average American child because the average child is brought up expecting to be happy..."

I wanted people to think about the person behind the headlines when they look at this blue portrayal - not a typical blonde Marilyn. "It takes a smart brunette to play a dumb blonde."

On the reverse of the Swarovski image is the painted Marilyn; this more understated Marilyn is the hidden and unseen side, made only to face the wall, whilst its Swarovski mirror image stares out at the world as a nod to Marilyn’s own alter-ego.

In the end it is up to every viewer to apply their own interpretation to this portrait of Marilyn as people did to the woman herself. “People are used to looking at me as if I were a kind of mirror instead of a person. They don’t see me, they see their own hidden thoughts and then they whitewash themselves by claiming that I embody those secret thoughts.” The crystals used in this portrait definitely have mirror like qualities and typical of Marilyn herself, this representation is larger than life. The image changes mood in different light conditions and, most importantly, in the semi dark, she looks like she is about to speak for herself. “I want to be an artist,not...a celluloid aphrodisiac.”

August 5th 2012 will be the 50th anniversary of the death of Marilyn Monroe. Far from fading into the past, her legend continues to grow. “I don’t want to get old. I want to stay like I am....”

By Claire Milner (14th February 2011)