What happens when the things we create begin to consume the things we believe in?
Self Destruct is the first work in Icons of Collapse, a series exploring how consumer culture shapes our myths, identities and sense of value.
At its center stands the Statue of Liberty.
Confident. Upright. Almost defiant.
Yet she is standing on a burning pyre.
Around her, fragments of real consumer packaging form a chaotic landscape of brands, promises and discarded desires. Packaging designed to be opened, consumed and thrown away surrounds a monument designed to endure.
That contradiction lies at the heart of Self Destruct.
We surround ourselves with things that were never meant to last — while slowly sacrificing the things we once believed were eternal.
Behind Liberty, a circle of gold elevates her almost like a contemporary saint. But the surrounding debris tells a different story.
What do we actually worship today?
Our ideals — or the endless cycle of wanting, buying, consuming and replacing?
The fire offers no simple answer.
It can mean destruction.
But fire can also mean purification and transformation.
And Liberty is still standing.
Icons of Collapse places familiar symbols of civilization inside the contradictions of contemporary life. The series is not simply about waste. It asks what happens when progress, consumption and desire begin to redefine what we consider valuable — and what we are willing to leave behind.
Perhaps Self Destruct isn't really asking what is happening to Liberty.
Perhaps it is asking what is happening to us.
SELF DESTRUCT
Icons of Collapse · No. 1
2026
Original artwork · Unique work (1/1)
Acrylic, discarded packaging & metal leaf on canvas
Canvas on wooden stretcher frame
80 × 80 × 4 cm
31.5 × 31.5 × 1.6 in
What happens when the things we create begin to consume the things we believe in?
Self Destruct is the first work in Icons of Collapse, a series exploring how consumer culture shapes our myths, identities and sense of value.
At its center stands the Statue of Liberty.
Confident. Upright. Almost defiant.
Yet she is standing on a burning pyre.
Around her, fragments of real consumer packaging form a chaotic landscape of brands, promises and discarded desires. Packaging designed to be opened, consumed and thrown away surrounds a monument designed to endure.
That contradiction lies at the heart of Self Destruct.
We surround ourselves with things that were never meant to last — while slowly sacrificing the things we once believed were eternal.
Behind Liberty, a circle of gold elevates her almost like a contemporary saint. But the surrounding debris tells a different story.
What do we actually worship today?
Our ideals — or the endless cycle of wanting, buying, consuming and replacing?
The fire offers no simple answer.
It can mean destruction.
But fire can also mean purification and transformation.
And Liberty is still standing.
Icons of Collapse places familiar symbols of civilization inside the contradictions of contemporary life. The series is not simply about waste. It asks what happens when progress, consumption and desire begin to redefine what we consider valuable — and what we are willing to leave behind.
Perhaps Self Destruct isn't really asking what is happening to Liberty.
Perhaps it is asking what is happening to us.
SELF DESTRUCT
Icons of Collapse · No. 1
2026
Original artwork · Unique work (1/1)
Acrylic, discarded packaging & metal leaf on canvas
Canvas on wooden stretcher frame
80 × 80 × 4 cm
31.5 × 31.5 × 1.6 in
