Feminine Gaze serves as an ongoing visual dialogue confronting the pervasive issues surrounding both the active and passive violence against women within the United States. When violated, there are often little repercussions, and control over one’s body is regressing within law and social fabric alike. My paintings address the personal and shared reality of living in a vessel that isn't yours, the agency of it lying with a husband, an aggressor, a government, a god. Though “femininity” conjures images of pastels  or eroticism or delicacy, for many it also means holding keys between fingers on the way to a car and covering a drink at a party; means needing to evaluate whether it’s safe enough to say “No,” and vilified when it’s not; means state lines determining whether they have access to necessary healthcare. The definition of “feminine” is vast and often paradoxical, needing to be both confident and reserved, on defense and offense, be everything and nothing. The female experience is eternal caution, and though resiliency is admirable, my work highlights that it should not be required to move through life.