Call to Submit: 2026 Booooooom Art & Photo Book Award
Sculpture

Artist Creates Detailed Masks Using Discarded DNA From Chewing Gum and Cigarette Butts

dewey7

Artist Heather Dewey-Hagborg creates “Stranger Visions” from stuff we discard publicly without a second thought. Gleaning genetic information from things like chewing gum and cigarette butts, Dewey-Hagborg creates detailed masks of what the person might look like, raising questions about privacy and the implications of genetic tampering. See more images and a short video of Dewey-Hagborg discussing her project below.

The video above was co-directed by Emily Sheskin and Veena Rao, with art direction and animation by Eric Rothman.

 

dewey10

 

dewey1

 

dewey2

 

dewey3

 

dewey4

 

dewey5

 

dewey6

 

Heather Dewey-Hagborg’s Website

Via My Modern Met

2025 Photo Awards Winners

Explore the work of our five winners, twenty shortlisted photographers, and two hundred shortlisted images.

See More

Tomorrow’s Talent 5 Book

This collection brings together work from 60+ artists and is also our biggest volume yet: 276 pages, and for the first time, in a larger format.

Booooooom Shop

Join our Secret Email Club

Our weekly newsletter filled with interesting links, open call announcements, and a whole lot of stuff that we don’t post on Booooooom! You might like it!

Sign Up

Related Articles