The idea of beauty is always shifting, every era and every area has their own perception of beauty. However, these standards of beauty have created a huge issue that has been going on in the world for so long. This is called the "toxic beauty standards". This term came from society, how society forms an idea of beauty through comparing one human to another and which they set up unrealistic standards. The real "toxic" came from the perception that the beauty standards created which makes it seems like some features are more attractive and superior to other features and how beauty standards are just like an unrealistic mold that are created for us, but it is set so it’s impossible for anyone to fit one. Growing up and acknowledging there are these standards taking control of how we are "supposed" to look and present ourselves, these standards have negatively impacted myself too and it has been a big part in my life. Through my artworks, I want to visualise the negative impacts of these standards and show the toxic side of beauty standards.

I have chosen a couple artworks that best represent and explain my theme for my exhibition. One of the artwork that I chose is titled "The irony of beauty" this is my first artwork in my IB visual arts journey and it is one of the biggest oil paints I ever did. This artwork shows a figure of a woman with features that are commonly viewed as not the "ideal" look, such as the African natural hair, the plump and curvy body shape and the variety of people of colours' skin tones. The main reason I drew those features is to represent the features that are most common to be labeled as "not socially accepted" or the least "desired". These features are viewed as less because women are subjected to what society defines as beautiful such as small waists, narrow hips, white flawless skin, long shining hair, etc. On the other hand, this artwork represents women that do not conform to the beauty standards as she is proud of who she is and this is shown through the activity that she is seen doing which is showing off her beauty with a mirror selfie. I intentionally paint the figure in the centre of the canvas to express her feeling of being comfortable with being the centre of the attention and being the main attraction. In addition, my intentions on using bright colours as her clothes and background such as bright yellow and bright pink is to portray her confidence since both colours are bright and empowering colours.

Another artwork that I have selected is the "Toxic masculinity" printmaking piece. I found this piece to be one of the most challenging artwork that I had to do in my IB visual arts journey as it is a medium that I never did previously. However, beside injuring myself throughout the process, I was quite proud of the outcome. The title of this artwork itself is already quite self explanatory but this popular term has evolved over time and is used to explain the extreme pressure some men may feel due to the negative side of exaggerated masculine traits that many cultures have glorified. In other words, according to the toxic masculine values, males who did not display enough "manliness" may fall short of being a "real man". These traits might include the assumptions that men should be physically strong, men should reject anything considered to be feminine, men have to be the breadwinner, etc. To show a world where the term "toxic masculinity" does not exist, I printed four men doing such activities that defy typical gender against men such as, being a ballerina with a tutu, wearing makeup and dresses, being a shopaholic and being a stay at home dad. However, I printed a cobra head in the centre to remind that this issue is still going on in this world as it symbolises "toxic" as being a vicious snake. The black background is usually associated with darkness and red typically conveys the meaning of anger, however the combination of these two colours, based on the colour psychology, can convey a sense of power which I used as the background to picture their aura.

Lastly, is one of my most meaningful artwork which is a mixed media on canvas and it is a projection how these beauty standards affected me personally. Knowing these standards exists since a very young age, it plays a big role in how I viewed myself and how it formed my insecurities as it makes me feel like I do not measure up to where I should be and how it lowers my self-esteem. These standards make it very difficult for me to see the gap between realistic expectations and unrealistic ones. Insecurity is a feeling of inadequacy and uncertainty and it produces anxiety especially social anxiety. These feelings of being insecure about every inch of my body and how I look most of the time is quite similar to having the feeling of being judged from head to toe and from every step I take. This worry that I have is shown through the sketches of the eyes surrounding a printed picture of myself, staring at me from every direction with a judgmental gaze. Beside the insecurities, my social anxiety behaviours are also illustrated in the artwork. These behaviours I tend to do when I have to perform in front of others that are portrayed in the artwork begins with the most visible one which is the hectic background that symbolises my “mind going blank” however, rather than using a blank canvas, instead I spray painted an abstract background to show how my mind can go blank and chaotic at the same time. Next, is how I feel a rapid heart rate which is displayed as the tangled red and black strings hanging from the canvas since the red represents the oxygen blood and the black represents the carbon monoxide in the heart which is scientifically proven to make your heart race. And lastly my tendency to make only little eye contact which is why in the printed photo of myself in the centre, I cover my eyes with markers.