Electra is a part of myself that came to me earlier this year and persuaded me to take my clothes off as an act of defiance, not just in defiance of a culture that by and large doesn't want middle aged women to bask in the glory of their naked selves, but also in defiance of my shyness and my fear of what people might think of me.

It felt so liberating standing with no clothes on in front of an art class knowing that it didn't matter what they thought of me: I just was. The feeling was electrifying, just as Electra had told me it would be. Weeks before doing the photographic shoot I kept saying to myself that I must get in shape, but I didn't, and so this is me as I am now and as I have been for the past year or so, with a stomach bulbous with fibroids. This is me. I am glad that I allowed Electra to surface, and I am proud and honoured to have been part of this project.