My practice explores ideas of Beauty, Hysteria and Power. My interests lie in how power structures have created female 'sicknesses' such as hysteria or eating disorders. My work exposes the reality of how many women today feel compelled to fit into the current feminine norm of 'beauty'. I am intrigued by the idea that hysteria or anorexia could be considered a form of protest. The hysteric, in one sense, is the embodiment of the nineteenth century ideal of the delicate woman but at the same time rebels against the ideal of woman in the home. Likewise, is the Anorexic the victim who has taken the pursuit of thinness too far, or is she a woman who unconsciously protests by exposing the reality of how dangerous this pursuit can be? However, if we do read hysteria or anorexia as forms of protest we must realise that the protest falls apart as the woman ultimately damages her body and mind. My work explores the idea that art could be a more sufficient form of protest as the artist can step back and let the work speak for itself without damaging her body. By exposing the hysteric or beauty obsessed woman through art, can we create discussion and therefore challenge the way women are perceived in society?