For centuries, visual language has been a mechanism used to tempt and influence society. The visual depiction of sexuality has shaped the conception of gender roles and the performance of these roles in daily life. The fabrication of women as sexual objects is one of the main ways that products are sold to consumers. Women are depicted as fulfilling the fantasies of the male gaze. These representations have infiltrated the minds of women who internalize these roles and are interpolated by it as specific types of subjects. Women become set on the belief that they function as the desire and fulfillment of men. As both a woman and an artist, I have succumbed to these notions of gender roles. It is through my own actions that I have employed the visual language in my work.

My body of work deals with the cultural perceptions of both women and artists in that they both occupy specific positions in relation to the pleasures of visual investigation. The work is a critique of my own ambivalent relationship of women being regarded as sexual objects. I am caught between the disdain of sexuality being linked directly with my identity and the fulfillment I receive from being the object of men’s desire. In order to capture this idea, my paintings are self-portraits depicting my performance of the specific gender construction of women. It became necessary to alter my appearance, using a blonde wig and lingerie, in order to complete my ideas. The self-shot portraits are then translated into paintings, emphasizing the self-objectification all women perform due to gender roles.

The paint itself is an important avenue for me to explore this ambivalence as my paintings teeter between controlled and expressive marks. The use of oil paint allows me to create a sensuous, luscious surface in which color creates the illusion of a figure. The application of the paint in certain areas of the figure highlights the particular fragments of women used to entice spectators. Contrary to the traditional male gaze, the main focus of my work is on the face. This reverses the male gaze and puts the female in control of the direction of the gaze. This role reversal is important because it emphasizes the internalization women experience through the use of their identity as means for viewers’ pleasure and therefore the desire they have to be gazed upon. The loud, assertive brush strokes and bold background colors reinforce the ownership of the gaze as the figure commands the spectator to stare at her. The paint creates an enticing and pleasing surface to look at which reiterates the supposed function of women. This concept of enticement and desire is reminiscent of the visual vernacular and reflects on society’s acceptance of the portrayed gender roles.