I have created a hyper-reality with roadkill. As a society, we are more disconnected from nature than ever. In place of our intrinsic need to connect to nature, we are becoming more dependent on distortions of reality, like virtual games and the unreal existence of Disneyland. Fantasies have come to constitute reality. With this collection, I am presenting a fake symbiotic relationship between perished animals and humans. This new relationship connects individuals back to the sublime of nature and the environment. Functional wearable art is vital in society to change consumer mentality. Making people feel creative while wearing an item of clothing or accessory brings more worth to everyday objects and pays homage to nature. Leather has been up-cycled from various places to give it new life. Similar to roadkill, I find leather couches on the street that are set to be thrown away. I harvest the leather, and like taxidermy, I adorn the skin to come alive again. I paint insects on the leather, embellished with gems and handmade glass pieces to represent the objects that lay with them on the side of the road.

While trying to visualize my hyper-reality, I researched Rogue Taxidermy. This art movement made mixed-media sculptures inspired by conventional taxidermy-related materials but used unconventionally. Instead of killing animals, they used animals that died naturally, roadkill, and discarded livestock. The main reasoning behind Rogue Taxidermy was that nothing that was once living should be taken for granted. I looked at roadkill and sketched. I was reanimating nature in my mind to build characters for my collection. I rendered my illustrations and added three-dimensional qualities to transform them into a new avatar. I started to think; What are the environments where these creatures live? The garments become the playground biome for these creatures to lay. From wrapping your body in a topo map to oversized glitching grass taking over the body, the animals scurry and survey their new home. 

As artists, we continually try to have our audience update their evocation. As I create a new reality, I want the audience to question their memories of nature. Are you sure that your recollection of nature is accurate, or do you need to experience nature again? See for yourself.