Carolee Schneemann is one of the most important performance artists of the 20th century, even if she doesn’t like to recognize herself in such a way. Her contribution to the feminist art movement revolves strongly around female sexuality and the body. Her vulnerability displayed through her naked body was shocking, and not always well received, but she continued to express herself exactly how she wanted to. She never recognized or conceded to the normative male gaze because she used the female form as a canvas, not a sexual form. She inserted things into herself, covered her body in paints and plastics, and swung from harnesses. Her goal was to try and have the body become an extension of the art, a paintbrush or canvas. This ideology stems from her work in dance and happenings, led by Robert Morris and Robert Rauschenberg. Her first influences were the abstract expressionists, which is seen in her early paintings/sculpture work. Her later piece Up To And Including Her Limits is a direct homage to Jackson Pollock and how he uses intense physical action with his body to paint his canvases. Her blending of body art with her love of painting helped to turn Scheemann herself into a revolutionary performance artist. One who embraced her own ‘taboo’ body all for the sake of art.