This body of work presents projects developed during my final year at De Montfort University. The first, my FMP Leave Me Bare, explores perfectionism as an evolutionary survival mechanism, often used to control the “mess” of being human. Influenced by Odilon Redon’s Noirs and Darwin’s theories of survival, the project is also rooted in my experience of moving from Brazil to England without speaking the language, where appearance and achievement became a way to express worth. This evolved into fear of failure and dependence on external validation. The work celebrates the destruction of the “ideal,” embracing imperfection as a path to self-worth. Ink-based “postcard a day” explorations informed distorted leather, chiffon, and trapped jewellery symbolising validation. The pre-collection For Something reflects resilience through my father’s migration story, exploring hardship, adaptation, and progress through repurposed leather, wool, and rawhide. My earlier project, As I Intend, examines identity and perception, inspired by Cindy Sherman and Gillian Wearing, using latex on leather to create skin-like surfaces that question constructed self-image.