Mixed Media
As the artist, my intention behind "Like A Lady Should?" was to create a sharp, satirical critique of the rigid behavioral expectations forced upon women and the hyper-commercialized world that corrupts human innocence. The title itself poses a cynical question, throwing traditional notions of modesty, politeness, and compliance into direct conflict with a ruthless, consumer-driven reality. Through this piece, I wanted to expose the underlying friction between what society dictates a woman "should" be and the aggressive, transactional survival tactics modeled by a materialist culture that values wealth, status, and superficial power above all else.
This thematic contradiction is anchored by the central figure in the file "All I wanna Do Is Take Your Money". I chose a collage of a young girl with an endearing, innocent smile, but deliberately subverted her purity by dressing her in the playful, manipulative iconography of temptation—giving her translucent pink devil horns, a sleek red tail, and a massive crimson trident standing tall beside her. Slung over her shoulder is a designer handbag bearing a blunt, handwritten confession: "all I wanna do is... and a... take your money." This jarring contrast captures the exact moment where the pressure to conform to societal success distorts genuine innocence into un-apologetic, calculated opportunism.
To deepen this conceptual battle, I heavily layered the background with clashing ideologies using acrylic, ink, and collage. Against a vibrant, atmospheric wash of sky blues and textured oranges, a repeating pattern of faded dollar signs ($) hangs in the air like a persistent modern deity. On the left side, the delicate, handwritten words of the biblical passage on love ("Love is patient...") are completely overwhelmed and drowned out by bold, expressive graffiti spelling out iconic pop lyrics: "you know that we are all living in a material world" and "I am a material girl." By forcing sacred virtues to compete with capitalist anthems, the artwork ultimately serves as an unmediated mirror to a society that conditions individuals to treat relationships, identity, and behavior as mere currency.
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