As I entered the final year of my degree, I felt compelled to create a project that speaks to a quiet, shared struggle: the insecurities shaped by female body standards.

This work stands as a response to the beauty ideals imposed on those who identify as women, and the internal conflicts they create. It seeks to remind us that these feelings are not isolated, but collective. Felt, carried, and endured together.

The short film unfolds within a mental void, where a dancer confronts her reflection through movement. She dances with an articulated effigy of herself, embodying the tension between self-acceptance and self-critique.

From the figure, fungus-like forms grow in areas marked by insecurity. Beautiful yet parasitic, they mirror the toxic standards that attach themselves to the body and mind.

Through an intimate exchange of movement and touch, the dance reveals how these insecurities persist as daily obstacles.

The shifting presence of the fungi reflects moments of struggle and release, illustrating how insecurities continuously grow, fade, and resurface within us.