I have recently been invited to a very specific world that has gripped my attention and captured my imagination. Since marrying a classical ballerina this past year, the curtain has been pulled back from culture and art that I only scarcely could imagine. The dancer confronts themselves, the audience, and the art form in a deep psychological way all while the audience is staring back at them like patron staring at a painting. The culminating experience is all about aesthetics and objects of beauty. I am inspired by the subtle moments the audience does not see and want to bring this to a different audience through narrative paintings. Moments that are seemingly fleeting yet are universal in their psychological weight and resonate with the viewers gaze as a shared experience. This is combined with the fact that these “fleeting” moments are frozen in paint and therefore in time so to speak grants them with a sense of eternity. The dichotomy of the fleeting and the eternal is one that I find very interesting especially in regards to the subject matter of this high art form (classical ballet) as being represented through another high art form (painting). Not only am I interested in the subject and the relationship between the fleeting and eternal, but I am also interested in the connotation of the ‘gaze’ that will be impossible to avoid. The ballerina is meant to be seen, but only on stage. Inviting the viewer into the moment’s backstage, in the dressing room, tying her point shoes, and putting on makeup is exposing and raise questions about femininity, voyeurism, objectification, beauty, and the self.