Dog Collar, 2025

materials: beeswax, damar resin, pigment on wood board

40 x 30 cm

Dog Collar is a self-portrait in encaustic (beeswax with pigment), a medium steeped in religious tradition, used historically for Icon paintings that venerate figures of faith. In this work, I adopt the aesthetic of the clergy, an illusion created when I wear my Adidas sports shirt beneath a black jacket, yet I stand in direct opposition to the doctrine that educated my childhood.

This piece challenges the authority of religious institutions that have long dictated moral hierarchies, reinforcing exclusion and oppression under the guise of righteousness. I am not of the cloth because I am pro-Equality. Pro-Science. Pro-Queer. Pro-Trans. Pro-Women’s right to choose. Pro-Indigenous freedoms and voices. Pro-peace over war. Pro-LGBTQIA+ children choosing life over despair. Pro-love. I am pro-everything religion raised me to resist.

The wax, with its strength and fragility, echoes the weight of tradition but also the possibility of transformation. Like the icons of old, Dog Collar presents a figure for contemplation, but one who opposes sanctification, instead embodying a defiant, compassionate, and radically inclusive presence.