Wired, is part of my ongoing series Open Invitation, which explores how women are read at first glance and how deeply those readings are shaped by the male gaze. This piece looks at how we’re wired to see women through inherited systems of control before we even realize it.

The male figure appears composed and in control, while the female figure is interrupted by exposed wiring spilling from her face. The wires represent the unseen labor, emotions, and complexity women carry, things that don’t fit into surface-level expectations. Where the male gaze simplifies, the wiring insists on depth.

The fuse box acts as a symbol of control, determining what is powered, filtered, or shut off entirely. It points to the way men have historically held authority within these systems, while women are expected to operate inside them. The connection between the figures suggests an imposed structure rather than an equal exchange.

The vintage clothing references a time when women had little autonomy, highlighting how outdated ideas continue to shape modern ways of seeing. Wired challenges the instinct to value restraint over complexity and questions why women’s realities are so often viewed as “too much.”

Painted in oil on canvas, the work lives in the tension between perception and truth, asking viewers to look beyond the first glance and reconsider what they’ve been taught to see.