To be a woman is to perform as a spectacle. Her attraction resides in the masking of her feminine experience; to enact as a supplementary object of exhibit to the ever watching male gaze.Through my work as a fashion print designer, I aim to document the feminine experience in relation to the male gaze. This collection explores the prescribed performance by women to preserve their girlhood attraction, in a society where purity and youthfulness serve as the fantasies that the male gaze projects on to the female figure. I use images of eroding chastity and the decay of the female performance to depict the transition from girlhood to womanhood. My work intends to chronicle the feminine struggle to conform to the role of the vision, and the performed manifestations of the male gaze. My use of delicate colours and soft draping fabrics in juxtaposition with moody hues and gritty textures displays the themes of masked womanhood that my practice is largely focused on.
