Dead eyed with a fixed smile, 'YES IT DID' (2019) is a series of photographs and a video installation. I wanted to depict the service industry from a female perspective, solely using performance and the work's title. The character embodies the toxicity of the male gaze: she is on display in flattering light and a foil curtain backdrop, handled by puppet strings, permanently grinning. Her autonomy is removed and she becomes a figure to be perceived. 

 

 There is a motif for employers to have conventionally good looking staff in many industries. Here, a woman's appearance acts similarly to the commodity; they both enhance the customer's experience. This type of commodification creates an incentive for misogyny and situations where their bodies are commented on or groped. It isn't very common for these instances to be raised because when they are, they are seldom taken seriously or believed. YES IT DID is the internal scream inside the puppet.