Neanderthal is a series of sculptural works constructed from polystyrene, steel, and concrete, taking the form of a Neanderthal skull. The concept engages with dualities—past and present, strength and fragility, permanence and decay. The polystyrene, a synthetic material notorious for its environmental impact, has been partially dissolved with solvent, creating a form that appears to melt or degrade. This transformation underscores the tension between solidity and dissolution, a material caught between states.

The choice of the Neanderthal references a being historically viewed as primitive or inferior. By aligning this figure with a material widely regarded as cheap, disposable, and damaging, the work explores the notion of “the negative”—both in how we define cultural or evolutionary value, and in how materiality speaks to environmental collapse. Neanderthal becomes a meditation on what we choose to preserve, what we discard, and how our judgments—whether about species or substances—reveal deeper fears and biases.