This is the final piece I made from outtakes during the process of creating the Marilyn Morph I and II collections for KnownOrigin during Feb-Mar 2021. A cerulean-hued Marilyn reflects my love for retro futurism; pulp books and trashy films were populated by green or blue-skinned alien women, usually glamorously made up with ridiculously bright hair. It was popular culture’s way of metamorphosing what they’d usually ‘other’ into something ‘exotic’ and acceptable; this way you could be a different colour and still be attractive if the palette superficially changed; suddenly objectifying the freakish, thus making it palatable and even sexy.
It’s also an obvious tribute to the self-taught Artist Vladimir Tretchikoff, famous for his painting ‘Chinese Girl’ (also known as ‘The Green Lady’) one of the best-selling art prints of the C20th. I see the world quite differently from everyone else, so this has actually always looked blue to me - but let’s compromise and call it aqua. Nevertheless, this piece clearly echoes the colours and themes of his work.