Sculpture

Wedding Dress 

mixed media - 48" circumference x 6' tall

It is made from hundreds of American Spirit cigarette packs, sewn together to recreate my wedding dress. The dress is made from the exterior paper of cigarettes packs, silver and gold liners inside the packs, and the shawl is made from the cellophane. The body and base are made from pressed cardboard form and metal covered in cigarette hardbacks. I began collecting and creating a series of clothing (which this dress is from) in 2007 in an effort to quit smoking. When I failed, I set it aside. I finally finished the model base and under bustle poof this year when I made another attempt to quit. This time I am almost a year cigarette free and going strong. This piece is about addiction as a kind of symbolic marriage contract between the user and the substance.