The assumption that something is unthreatening because it is small, soft, round, subordinate, is a dangerous assumption in and of itself. If we believe something is powerless, its capacity to influence us grows insidiously. In her latest exhibition at Hashimoto Contemporary San Francisco, What Doesn’t Kill You, Megan Ellen MacDonald explores femme objectification through the lens of cuteness and diminutive forms. MacDonald translates the 3D vignettes she creates in virtual reality into oil paintings that personify objects and anthropomorphize animals, transforming them into complex symbols of femininity and power. MacDonald’s figures are discernibly pink, smooth, cute, and their bite is deadly.