This artwork explores the artist’s struggles with body dysmorphia, medical bias, and societal pressures. The piece aims to highlight the harmful consequences of medical neglect based on weight and the societal obsession with weight loss which places appearances and outdated scientific measurements above actual mental and physical wellbeing.

An eye stares back at the viewer, forcing them to confront the emotional consequences of the scrutiny faced by those who struggle with their weight within health services. Patients with higher BMIs are dismissed and looked down upon when they seek help for physical health problems that may not even be related to their current difficulties, and are praised for weight loss regardless of its impact on their health. This all too often leads to physical conditions being ignored until they worsen to the point where they can’t be ignored any longer, when a patient with a lower BMI might have been taken seriously much sooner. On top of this, disordered eating is often overlooked and even encouraged. The impact of this bias on mental health can be great, leaving patients feeling abandoned and powerless when they try to seek help.

With this piece the artist hopes to empower others, particularly other women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome. She wants to emphasise that they are not alone in their invalidating experiences with health services and their very real impact this has on their mental wellbeing.