Working with objects commonly associated with female identity, such as acrylic nails, false eyelashes, and jewellery, Frances Goodman explores how beauty regimens and perfectionism creates obsession and neuroses. Her humorously dark sculptures and installations suggest how self-conscious anxieties play a disproportionate role in governing women’s lives. In her examination of beauty conventions, marriage traditions, and common material possessions, Goodman reveals both the self-imposed and external pressures to conform to societal expectation. Her works rebel against the influence of the male gaze and a media-obsessed, mainstream culture. Meanwhile their glossy, sensual surfaces capture the underlying libidinal energy that motivates consumption, from a gleaming car hood to a metallic nail polish sheen. Frances Goodman’s work is included in several major international collections, including the Pérez Art Museum, USA; the National Museum of African Art at the Smithsonian Institution, USA; Foundation Sindika Dokolo, Angola; Zeitz MOCAA, South Africa