Collar is part of a new series called Alter-Ego which re-assigns value or purpose to found plastic trash. Plastics are found in almost every object we use. We know this. From toothbrushes to cell phones, water bottles to disposable masks, they are littering every aspect of the environment, and they will long outlive us. They will likely instigate our species’ demise.

In creating unique replicas of one obliterated object, I consider ideas about consumption, mass-production, life-span and mortality. As my mold deteriorates with each cast, a unique item is born; just slightly different from the others. In eliminating the context and origin, I elevate our plastic waste.

Collar conjures ancient and classical adornment as worn by goddesses, priestesses, and royalty for protection, fertility, beauty and ritual. It also implies restraint, subjugation, or enslavement, like prison collars, or those employed by colonial settlers involved in African slave trading.