Train Driver's Hanger

Title: The Driver’s Trophy (from the Traces of Existence collection)
Medium: Ready-made installation / Mixed media (1970s train hanger, karakul hat, noble deer teeth).

Concept:
This artwork explores the hidden cost of human progress and challenges our right to be proud of cruel achievements. The installation features a 1970s electric train hanger holding a karakul fur hat and a necklace made from the upper canines ("pearl teeth") of a noble deer. This animal was hit and killed by a speeding train; the driver collected its remains as a personal souvenir.

The karakul hat on the shelf completes this narrative of exploitation. Made from the patterned fur of young lambs, it represents how society normalizes violence for the sake of comfort, status, and routine.

The piece highlights a painful truth: one person’s victory or daily routine can mean absolute defeat and tragedy for another living being. By turning these violent fragments into a decorative trophy, the artist questions the ethics of human triumph. It forces the viewer to wonder: Can we truly be proud of achievements that are built on destruction?