"The 'male gaze,' as a shaper of my life's choices, is largely incidental."

– Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

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It all starts with an idea. In this case, Restricted Gaze is a reflection on the notion of "male gaze" as proposed by film critic Laura Mulvey. Daniel Bastard happens to be a relatively cisgender and heterosexual being. But then, how can we understand the way he looks at female figures? Is it voyeurism? Scopophilia? The beginning of pornography? In order to confront these utterly uncomfortable questions, the artist has sought a resolution by imposing a 'restricted' frame on his female portraits, which places certain attributes, particularly sexual attributes, out of frame – or “hors-champ”. Through the constraint of this frame, the artist attempts to free the subject – as well as himself and the viewer – from the arbitrariness of the (male) gaze.