A BEAUTIFUL MIND: the three auras of Marilyn Monroe

It’s been 5 years since my first Marilyn collage so I thought I’d revisit her and (with my more refined skills since then) create a series of 3! Each one denotes different sentiments that immortalized Marilyn as we know her:

1) THE POLLYANNA 🌈🤍🌸/// Marilyn didn’t really have a great childhood. What little semblance of childlike innocence she did have she brought with her into adulthood. She was a coquettish pleaser and her fans—and the many men in her life—provided her the reciprocity of adoring her back. It was like a reward to her inner child.

2) THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS 💚💔🖤 /// on the flip side of her flowery persona is the melancholic one where she battled her demons. Everything on the other side of her inner child is a certain cloud of depression that overshadowed most of her life.

3) THE SULTRY SIREN 🚨❤️‍🔥🔥 /// this is the hallmark that so many people admire Marilyn for—the way she finessed an audience in her movies and in real life. This bold romantic and seductive side of her was perhaps a combination of the dark street mind (#2) warmed up in a blanket by her flowery charisma (#1).

After creating these pieces I realize the auras gleaned from Marilyn somewhat mirror the woman I am—and other women out there. If I could encapsulate what she represents, it would be the lyrics from my favorite Bruce Springsteen song “….she’ll make you come just far enough so you know she’s really there...” Beyond that point lies the mystique of a woman. There is a “Secret Garden” we have, that has led to one of the deepest mysteries and greatest conquests within humanity: capturing our intangible hearts….

She'll let you in her house
If you come knocking late at night
She'll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She'll let you deep inside
But there's a secret garden she hides

[Verse 2]
She'll let you in her car
To go driving around
She'll let you into the parts of herself
That will bring you down
She'll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don't think twice

[Bridge]
You've gone a million miles
How far would you get
To that place where you can't remember
And you can't forget

[Verse 3]
She'll lead you down a path
There will be tenderness in the air
She'll let you come just far enough
So you know she's really there
Then she'll look at you and smile
And her eyes will say
She's got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away.

1) THE POLLYANNA 🌈🤍🌸/// Marilyn didn’t really have a great childhood. What little semblance of childlike innocence she did have she brought with her into adulthood. She was a coquettish pleaser and her fans—and the many men in her life—provided her the reciprocity of adoring her back. It was like a reward to her inner child.

3) THE SULTRY SIREN 🚨❤️‍🔥🔥 /// this is the hallmark that so many people admire Marylin for—the way she finessed an audience in her movies and in real life. This bold romantic and seductive side of her was perhaps a combination of the dark street mind (#2) warmed up in a blanket by her flowery charisma (#1).

2) THE DAMSEL IN DISTRESS 💚💔🖤 /// on the flip side of her flowery persona is the melancholic one where she battled her demons. Everything on the other side of her inner child is a certain cloud of depression that overshadowed most of her life.