Tara Westover wrote in Educated: John Stuart Mill asserted that “women have been … squashed into a series of feminine contortions for so many centuries, that it is now quite impossible to define their natural abilities or aspirations.” I sought to contrast women’s natural selves with women who are forced into society’s molds. To portray women’s relaxed forms, I studied Mary Cassatt’s candid paintings and told my models to dance however they desired. For the feminine distortion, I was inspired by Egon Schiele and instructed the models into a series of uncomfortable positions. I analyzed Jenny Saville’s splashed ink on graphite drawings and manipulated Chinese ink on the paper in contrasting ways. To the left, I poured flowing paint to elicit a menacing effect. To the right, I splashed outward, symbolizing the burst of feminine energy. I portrayed the women in overlapping figures with charcoal, creating movements of both struggle and relaxation.