The childhood event has had a significant impact on how I see and feel my body. The constant haunting of my past memories make me feel that my body is on display and is sexually objectified by the male gaze all the time. Cloth being the only thing that was guarding me has become the means of my expressions in my work. By incorporating cloth and clay on my body, I have tried to paint an image of the cloth that works as a shield to protect my body. I wanted the impression of my hand to be there in the final work to show struggle that I still haven’t been able to let go of the mental and physical torture. The folds in my work shows imperfections in my everyday life, highlighting the point that no matter how much I try to protect myself, my body is still on display. The rigidity of my finished work does not depict the soft nature of the fabric. The proposed work does not only act as a physical shield from touch but also a mental shield acting as a defense mechanism working tirelessly to fight the fear of something similar happening again. I also decided to stain my work with tea because of its popularity in Pakistan and it acting as a constant reminder for me of memories from back home and at the same time making me feel like my is stained.

The works of Ruby Chisti, Tracey Emin and Yoko Ono have inspired my research. In Yoko Ono’s performance ‘Cut Piece’, she calls women's sexual objectification into question and used the female body as a medium for art and protest using cloth to shield her body.