Multimedia artist Purple Palace, characterized by her raw and genuine way of expression, walks us through her creative process and the different outlets through which she experiments and expresses herself, highlighting the importance of vulnerability to make to make meaningful art.

Doing everything from videos, sculptures, paintings, performances, poetry and more recently music, how has your journey as an artist been to arrive to the point in which you are now with your creations? Can you describe your journey of experimentation with these different types of art forms?

I love being a multimedia Artist and the energy that creating across many mediums gives me! My Art studio is inside of an ancient convent in Paris and it’s truly a playground where I paint, make pop-punk music, write performances, and just allow myself to experiment. It’s crazy what forms your Art can take when you release other people’s expectations of you and just focus on following what feels good.
I think this overall attitude and desire to not limit myself to one form of self-expression can be attributed to my early days working in experimental theater. This is because by nature, community theater is extremely multi-disciplinary. Everyone who is a part of the show does a little of everything —you could be acting in a piece but also be helping make the props, paint sets, build furniture. By starting there, I felt empowered to expand into being a multi-disciplinary artist.
I also learned a lot in those early days about the power of vulnerability, make believe, being present and taking risks with your work. This is a world where the obstacle is the way, where you are rewarded for repeated ego deaths, for allowing yourself to be cringe in hopes of a moment of true human connection. The more times you put yourself on the line and “died” metaphorically in search of a moment of truth on stage, the more alive you were. It became ingrained in me early on that to make meaningful Art, you had to die a little in the process. Whether that’s dying of embarrassment or dying of laughter because you went there and there is no turning back and that’s a joyful thing, or maybe simply dying because you felt something so deeply that somehow, you’ve transformed into someone completely different.
Overtime, I have naturally felt the freedom and excitement to push my practice in new directions both online and off through performance, video work and most recently music. But I think that idea has always stayed with me—that making good Art should feel like you’re dying.

Your art is bold and colorful, with diverse shapes, almost like a dreamland. What is the inspiration behind your aesthetic and style?

Before making Art, I initially came from a background in set design where the props and landscapes were dreamlike and visually appealing. You had to create a scenography where a story could develop and in which the audience would sit and accept to immerse themselves in that world for the duration of an almost 3-hour show. In theater, there is an unspoken agreement between the audience and performer that during those three hours, the audience will play the game of make believe. They agree that a cardboard mountain is a mountain or that the fake paper snow falling from the rafters is really happening. Once that door is open, anything is possible. It’s very magical, poetic and creates a lot of very interesting possibilities for humor, poetry, and innovation.
I talk about this because I love taking these visual codes from theater and integrating them into my video work and performances because I essentially want to accomplish the same thing. I want to create an atmosphere and landscape that is inviting and accessible so that the average person feels like they can connect to it, that they are welcome and can come inside. People have this idea that color = shallow, and darkness = profound, but I think that sometimes visually dark work can be intimidating to the average viewer. I want someone who stumbles upon my page and who has never seen Art before to feel like they can be a part of it. In my own work I have found it more effective to invite people in through colorful and aesthetic visual codes and perhaps deliver a more nuanced message once I have their attention. This is also what I love about Pop art; although it is sugary and often served up on a dreamy platter, it often hides something darker and fragile underneath. I think the marketing of that is very interesting and smart. It’s also just flat out more fun for me to create in this way. Who doesn’t love texture, pastels, and playing with interesting props? But after all, these are all just visual codes. And I suppose the code I am sending out is, come inside, spend some time with my work.

How was the process of finding our own style and voice in art? Was it challenging for you to trust your vision?

For as long as I can remember and even as a kid I have always been writing, painting, and wanting to put on plays or perform for people. I suppose in that sense sharing my work has come natural to me because I learned from an early age that putting oneself out there is an essential part of becoming an Artist. Even failing after a while becomes second nature because if you’re going to be a successful Artist, you’re inevitably going to fail a lot. Overtime I have learned to trust my intuition and give myself space to experiment and that is always when I have the best ideas. I try to create from a place of pure fun and excitement; if an idea doesn’t excite me then it’s clear that it’s not the direction to go in. I often think as well that it’s not a coincidence that our side projects often become our most successful main projects over time because we don’t put pressure on them and just allow ourselves to play without too much emphasis on the outcome. That fun, flowing energy is the spirit that I always strive for when approaching any of my work.

In your YouTube videos, you document your life as a human navigating through the emotions of life and artist in Paris. Managing to transmit the magic of being alive, your creative process and life struggles in a raw and natural way. Has this been challenging for you, exposing yourself in front of your audience and the internet? What has the process been like?

I have this mantra which is “Vulnerability is my superpower”. I started recording my life when I was in Art school because I felt truly lonely, and having the camera as a friend in my art studio or on the RER A really saved me from that isolation. I think in those early days I created content in a very naive way, not questioning what having an audience meant because it was a very abstract idea to me. As I have grown as a person and Artist, it’s been an interesting process figuring out how to exist online in a healthy way which is sustainable and can grow with me. I still stand by the idea that there is no point in documenting my life as an Artist if I don’t also share the struggles and obstacles too.

With a rising career on YouTube and social media, inspiring hundreds of thousands of people every day, how have you managed to maintain your creative identity, staying true to your art and creations whilst garnering a growing fan base and popularity online?

I think people have this idea that one thing negates the other. For example, having a social media presence will take away from my identity as an Artist. I think starting out I had the same fears, that perhaps I won’t be taken seriously. But by who exactly? The white man who owns the gallery? I think I had to decide from that point on what kind of Artist I wanted to be— a fearful one or a powerful one. I always remind myself that you were not put on earth to be easily digestible. In reality, what I have found is that I am a better Artist because of my social media; these micro communities inspire my work and also support it. I have also created projects online with my communities, for example most recently an online contemporary theater project called insta-play with my instagram followers as participants. I think that for a long-time people viewed wanting to take up space online as narcissistic or a frivolous pursuit. But I think that's changing now. The reality is the internet is a powerful place for Artists and for human connection.

We can also see you send out a positive message and inspire people to be sensitive, vulnerable, and live life on their own terms, which is quite inspiring. Now you released a book “I love being Sensitive” an affirmation workbook journal. How was the process of creating this book and what led you to it?

We learn from an early age that sensitivity and showing our vulnerability is a weakness, when in reality I think that the more generous you are with others, the more you can truly connect. In the end we are all looking for true human connection. This is where I got the idea for the title of my second book, “I Love Being Sensitive: A guided affirmation journal & workbook for Artists & empaths on the path towards higher creativity, self-love and abundance “. As an avid journaler and self-help book enthusiast, I saw what an impact this form of self-help for creatives had on my journey as a young Artist. In the past I’ve spoken a lot across my platforms about my experience allowing myself to “make bad Art and take up space” as an Artist and the feedback I have received from my audience was really encouraging. It was clear to me that a lot of people found this content particularly helpful, and I felt like I was at a point in my career where I had a lot to offer myself on the subject. As I love journal making, design and self-help, I decided to bring together the best of both worlds in one beautifully made book. After 8 months of planning, designing, and writing, the “I love being sensitive" work-book journal was born. Each day in the workbook was thought out and includes creative exercises, nightly abundance meditations, fun journal prompts, emotional check ins as well as personal anecdotes and original illustrations. Although I think it is particularly helpful for Artists, the book was created for anyone who wishes to expand creatively, emotionally, and spiritually by getting to know themselves on a deeper level.

You are releasing your first EP “Tower Moments” in April of this year. What are the inspirations behind your music style and lyrics?

I first started making music in Art school in a very naive and spontaneous way to accompany my video installations and performative Art pieces. The songs were always quite funny and satirical, and the performances I wrote would take place in dreamy pop sets which contrasted with their much darker and fragile subject matter. I called these pieces “The dark contemporary fairy tales of the internet realm”.
Then, last year I was going through a lot of big life changes. I had just graduated from Art school and the 8 year relationship I was in had ended. They say that the best way to get over heartbreak is to progress in an area of your life that you really care about. I decided that it was time to throw myself into music because it was mysterious and exciting to me.
I started working on creating my first musical project under my Artist name “Purple Palace" to give homage to my early internet roots. My first EP entitled “Tower Moments" comes out April 2023.
I named it that because the term “Tower moment” in the tarot refers to a big, challenging event in our life that shifts everything. The tower falls and crumbles because it wasn’t stable to begin with. It’s scary, but once the dust settles things are better than they were previously and leave a new foundation on which to build upon. All the songs on the EP are inspired by real life “Tower moments” in my own life.
Stylistically, it’s research in synth pop, spoken word and electroclash in English and French which continues my work of the contemporary dark fairytale. The themes are feminist, empowering and at times quite dark (toxic relationships, anxiety, loneliness) which is often in contrast with a very sweet and bubblegum production like in my second single “Sauvage”. In my music, it’s really important for me to be raw and honest with the lyrics, and at times even provocative. The element of risk and vulnerability is an essential element in my work because otherwise I don’t see a point of expanding in this direction. There are currently a lot of super talented musicians out there making amazing songs to chill out to and I love that, but I think in 2023 as a woman making shit, I want to be a little more of a terror. I suppose that’s why I love musicians who are a bit weird and visually epic like Klaus Nomi, Nina Hagen, Tyler the creator. Although the themes are often quite serious, they are always treated with a touch of humor, satire and wild experimental energy and that’s something I definitely gravitate towards as well.

What do you think about the transformation going on in the world of art with the incorporation of Artificial Intelligence image generation? Is this something that you would be interested in trying out? What impact do you think it will have?

I think that it’s really cool! It's a super interesting tool, for example to be able to describe something to an AI and for it to create exactly what you said. I think it’s only natural to see these sorts of progressions as technology becomes more advanced and people are seeking out new and innovative ways to use these tools in their Art. But for me it rests as a tool, much like a ruler assists you to draw a straight line to bring your vision to life. It’s still up to the Artist behind that tool and their ideas. I also don’t see it as a threat at all to traditional Art forms but instead adding an interesting new layer to what already exists. I think especially if you are someone who leans toward conceptual Art or writes quite a bit then there is a lot to do in that space and many ways to be innovative. I think it makes perfect sense that our generation would expand in that direction.

What is a message that you would like to send to aspiring artists inspired by your work?

I would say don’t wait for someone to give you permission to start something. Don’t wait for some gatekeeper to tell you that you have your place in the Art world. Start building now, wherever you are. “If you build it, they will come”; build your own communities, your own projects, create the opportunities! You were born to take up space, to shine. You also don’t have to be good to begin, start right where you are and figure it out as you go.