bronislava slagle's Gallery

I started working on my “Hairstyles” series after stumbling across an image of Marilyn Monroe on the internet. She was wrapped in a fur coat, looked stunning, and had a somewhat lonely expression on her face. 

Until this day, Marilyn Monroe is an icon who radiates beauty and mystery. She was, is, and always will be an inspiration to many artists, just as she was to Andy Warhol.

Something about that particular image inspired me to create my painting of Marilyn in my own style of pop art, with a focus on one of the timeless elements of popular culture, the hair style.

After I finished painting “Venus In Fur,” I could not stop there. Being a former stylist and colorist, I wanted, if only on canvas, to create more ladies’ hairstyles: some cool, some conservative, some “out there.”

As I continued to work on the series, I began to notice that facets of my own personality were starting to show through in each new style: daring, adventurous, carefree, and whimsical, yet sometimes old fashioned and serious. My life has always been vibrant, and my palette naturally portrays an energy and cheerfulness. I do not have time to be bored. Life has to be lived.

“Hairstyles” is not only a reflection of who I am and how I feel. If I stand back and look at the series as a body of work, I realize that I was unconsciously trying to portray any woman.  The hair series represents the transformation that takes place within a woman’s soul. Who she is or wants to be, and how she feels or would like to feel. Maybe even how she would like to look, if she would have the courage and would not be afraid of being judged.