[xenomorphgirl]

I’m a big fan of Giger, and I quite like his more feminine design for the xenomorph

My piece's main goal was to investigate the intersection between innocence, danger, and femininity.

I chose to use an anime style face because of its relation to contemporary internet culture, especially anime profile pictures. While these images and characters are usually harmless, they have also been appropriated by alt-right online subcultures and movements (particilarly by the maga, incel neo-nazi and gamergate crowds) —particularly certain characters from series such as K-On!—have been made into tools for ideological camouflage. This appropriation highlights the disjunction between the visual signifier and the intent of the user, a dynamic that this piece seeks to examine.

The work also reflects on the broader cultural implications of anime's increasing popularity in the West, particularly in relation to the hyper-idealized and often sexualized depiction of characters. These portrayals have contributed to a distortion of body image standards, and the underlying danger of these expectations.