I am a painter, and like many painters, that also means that I am many other things. While I am flexible enough in my technical ability to shift for and adapt to the needs of my clientele, as a studio artist, I still press on in my own direction, exploring avenues which I consider uniquely my own. Through themes of feminism, beauty, voyeurism, and identity, my work explores the relationship between gender expectation and the self. Unframed, these works are not simply a window through which the viewer looks, but rather are a part of the viewers’ space—intruding, demanding, and confronting their audience. By often using myself as vehicle for my visual commentary, an autobiographical narrative develops and creates a linear sequence that shifts and expands both visually and conceptually, and reflects the complex nature of social interaction and greater themes of the developing chronology of human life. My most recent work explores the gender expression of biological women and how outward appearance affects the world’s perception of these figures. While the figures’ clothing helps to shape the initial identity of the figure, the layering of line work, patterns, and text further define the global identity of the figure. This juxtaposition of self-defined identity and identity defined by collective conscious creates a conflicting message for the viewer. My audience is asked to digest these individual ideas as separate layers that create an overall composition, just as collective conscious and self-defined identity shapes the contemporary identity of women today. Amanda's small works can be purchased at http://thisartlife.etsy.com