For Gisela Projects’ booth at Untitled Art Fair in Miami, Fernanda Feher continues her exploration of the role of women in history through her own figurative paintings and drawings, permeated with autobiographical elements. The artist investigates the social construct of gender and the consequences of the ways women are portrayed, defined and judged. Working from a seductive palette adorned with motifs, she creates seemingly naive fairy-tale-like scenarios that reveal the more conflicting aspects of being a woman. The exhibition space itself is designed to also be inviting and seductive, enveloping the viewer. As within the works, layers of depth are created. Oyster stickers on the wall, openings inside the drawings/paintings, and the frames within frames, all work to draw viewers into an increasingly complex narrative. Aquatic themes, such as the ocean deep, sea shells, jellyfish, together with a sense of what is commonly associated as exotic — corn, passion fruits, as well as the tropical symbols — were inspired by Miami as the capital of Latin America. In the largest painting, “La Exotica” 2023, the artist returns to the icon of the femme fatale — a recurring figure in Feher’s investigations. These women represent the familiar trope of the strong woman, who looks in command but is actually in a survival mode, trying to thrive in challenging settings and situations. This work functions as tabula rasa for what we see in the rest of the booth. The tapestries reinforce a sense of craft associated with the feminine, but counter the archaic movement in which sewing was at the service of maintaining a social marginalization of women. Depicting a world under the water, the textile work also comments on the environmental anxiety ubiquitous in the zeitgeist. The overall sense of awe, magic and wonder are constitutive of our existence – we are driven by desire – even when we know it may all be an illusion.