My artworks have moved through several different ideas, but they all relate to the theme of the beauty-shaming. Beauty-shaming manifests in many ways: criticizing your own appearance, through a judgment or comparison to others/ criticizing another’s appearance in front of them/ criticizing another’s appearance without their knowledge. No matter how this manifests, it perpetuates the idea that people should be judged mainly for their physical features. I wanted to focus my works on the first two types of manifesting beauty-shaming. I wanted to show that while we should keep working toward loving our body, it's equally important not to be disloyal to those who look different than we do. I would like the people who will see my exhibition to think about their own as well as other behavior. I have tried to explore the theme of beauty-shaming by looking at self-criticism, in works inspired by Karin van Berne (‘No face, but there is a story to fill in by yourself’) and Nazar Bilyk (‘Rain’); by looking at some of the impact technology and cosmetic industry is having on us, especially women; and finally, by exploring the theme of bullying by excessive criticism that inspired me thanks to Billie Eilish’s speech.

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Numerous influences have directed the processes and concerns by which I create meaning in my works. My four pieces focus around coping or not with excessive criticism and judgment: Stop it!, Don’t look at me!, Maquillage, Mirror Image, Three Girls. The first two were inspired by the illustrations connected with the “Big Brother” figure and its eye motif. The theme artists tend to explore using that motif is government manipulation, but I have chosen the motif of the eyes to explore something more personally relevant to me and look at judging others. I wanted to depict two types of victims: as people who cannot deal with the problem and as people who do not let themselves be judged by others. The next group of pieces depicts the morbid pursuit of beauty and its associated consequences, such as loss of identity (Photoshoot, Mirror Hanger, Must-have, I am invisible, Not Me). I wanted to show that we are often pressured to look beautiful. Changing ourselves even though we do not want to, we change/lose our identity; and we pretend to be someone we really are not, to satisfy others; to stop criticizing us.

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I developed all pieces with the viewer firmly in mind. I wanted the meaning to come from observation and so the first thing I considered was how to effectively communicate my meaning to the viewer. The characters in my works perform symbolic activities that emphasize their emotions and feelings. Colors play a very important role in my works. I wanted the colors to match the seriousness of the situations presented in the works. The general color palette of my works consists of grey and blue tones to make the images look less inviting and to make the viewers more self-possessed.

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In considering the curating of my body of work into an exhibition, I have considered my works in terms of how meaning is best conveyed to the viewer, as well as how the technical and visual qualities are shown to their best advantage. I intend to locate my exhibition within the assembly hall so that it would be clearly visible. Space will consist of a fixed hanging system which is sufficient for all of my two-dimensional works requiring hanging. I intend to arrange my exhibition to resemble an open window. The works will be hung on a background of white material so that the whole exhibition would be bright and full of light and at the same time my artworks would gently contrast with the background and attract the viewer’s attention. I want my artworks to be organized according to their subject matter, and at the same time, I want to arrange them according to their size and color. The pieces will be presented separately, displayed on white materials creating walls, a little below the eye level. The work's placement in each other's close proximity within a separated space, as well as the reoccurrence of an eye and mirror motive, will indicate their connective relationship.