“Prince, Purple Rain” An Amalee Original.
I painted this painting in August 2016, but I now find myself thinking about him more. Prince was more than comfortable being seen while I would rather stay hidden. He seemed to be so seen as who he really was and yet he seemed to die lonely and sad. Possibly one losses themselves several times in a lifetime or maybe the purpose of life is to continuously adapt to change and uncertainty.
Most of my life I have been a judgmental non conformist. I mean I have never valued the “accepted forms of being”, in fact I have been so against everything in regular American culture that I have missed out on so many wonderful things. Luckily I had children so I could do some of the stuff “for my kids” but I have recently realized I stayed outside because I believe I didn’t deserve to be part of it.
Not liking to be seen seems to be opposite to “Prince” who loved to be seen. He was talented and beautiful and he loved not only being seen but showing his amazingness. And while I am really talking out of my ass because I do not know his inner workings at all. It now seems that there was a hidden part of him that he could not express.
He could express gender ambiguity, amazing talent, and seemed to be so himself. To be an artist who makes money from my talent, I have to be seen. I started painting as a way of accessing parts of myself that were unaccessible. For whatever reason I got really comfortable in the hidden world of my imagination, even when I painted it was for me. The lesson I have to learn from Prince is to be seen. Celebrate my talent, sell my paintings.