The adage “appearances can be deceiving” has become so commonplace that the force of the message behind it has begun to subside. However, facades of perfection often hide more sinister realities, as we have seen throughout history with criminals and celebrities. I wanted to explore the idea that polished appearances can conceal darker, unseen truths, while also criticizing consumerism. In today’s society, consumerism has become so unreasonable that we are willing to ignore the horrors behind it in order to justify and continue our destructive behaviors. To further investigate this juxtaposition of overly perfect veneers and the absurdity of consumerist culture, I wanted to highlight the fashion industry, and in particular, the slaughter of over 50 million animals each year for cosmetics, jewelry, and clothing. From coveted luxury items such as fur coats to cosmetic testing on animals in laboratories, the fashion industry is guilty of barbaric cruelty towards animals, but the consumers who purposefully ignore such acts are nowhere near blameless. By creating pieces that illustrate the rawness and innocence of the animals behind the flawless finished products, I hoped to draw attention to animal cruelty in the fashion industry. To do this, I used a variety of materials, from watercolor pencil, which I had little experience with, to oil paint, which I have been experimenting with for years. In each of my works, I attempted to juxtapose the perfection of a model with the obscurity of the animals to create striking and unexpected scenes.