In this series I insert my body into the art-historical canon of female nudes. When you grow up without a reflection in society, sometimes you just have to make your own. These paintings are about what it means for me to see my body in public without fear, or shame, or humiliation. Yet I am also interested in using paint as I use my body. I think about the effects of trauma on the body like paint on a canvas. The paint becomes the canvas and vice versa. At the same time I think about using paint as I use my body, and as such the possibilities for manipulation and self-determination become inexhaustible. Painting becomes a process of mastering trauma. In this process mistakes are crucial. With every painting come new ones. You mess it up and you fix it over and over. In the end, that is what makes something beautiful. Not the stroke of genius or master plan, but the mistakes and the continued commitment to make something better.