Inspired by several famous male gaze paintings and feminist art — painted with reverence, not voyeurism — this project begins with a question: what does it mean to be vulnerable or strong? How many times do we change during this life? How to make it work with a contemporary rhythm? Do we have to? Changing places, spaces, faces, skin, friends, wardrobes, travelling, feeding, exploring, surviving, beating, surrounded by people in our heads and outdoors, but ultimately always alone.

Today, in the shared spaces of a London gym, I witness modern echoes of this exposure — women in flux, stripping off layers amid steam and mirrors. Some do it with ease, while others do it with apprehension. Some display their bodies like quiet celebrations. Others shrink from the gaze, even when surrounded by other women.

But beneath the surface of confidence or a curated appearance, the same ancient tensions persist. Between pride and pressure. Between natural and performative. Between autonomy and objectification. The body is still never neutral.

The modern body, though sculpted and self-maintained, still carries old questions:

Am I too much? Am I enough?

Is this body mine, or is it always for someone else to define?

Behind the curated exteriors lie deeper complexities: the body that requires work but offers no guaranteed happiness in return; the body praised for fitting the mould, but still not at peace; the body taught to hide or to perform, depending on upbringing, culture, and trauma.

In this visual story, I explore the layered vulnerability of being undressed in a public yet intimate space — a place that seems safe but is never entirely free from scrutiny. It is about the female body as a site of power, beauty, labour, exposure, violence, control, and politics. It is never just a body.

Who decides how it should look? Who owns it — the woman or the world around her? These questions are never far from our subconscious, replaying quietly in mirrors, in glances, in silence.

How do I look? How should I look? Who am I doing this for?

This is not a study of appearance, but of perception. Of interior lives seen through exterior shells. Of public intimacy. Of what it means to be "free" when you are constantly being watched.

This work is for every person who has ever stood in front of a mirror and questioned what they see — and who it really belongs to.

Turkina  (c) 2025