project. extraordinary by Javier Castán
Art & Photography / 2026 /
- Photography
- Javier Castán
- Styling & Fabrication
- Ian McRae
- Makeup
- Andrew D’Angelo
- Hair
- Kazu Katahira
- Model
- Brooke Gabel
- Casting
- Brian Helm
- Hair Assistant
- Shinya Iwamoto
- Editor-at-large
- Czar Van Gaal
- project. extraordinary curated by
- Shibo Chen
The most exciting part was watching something entirely mundane transform into something almost ceremonial. Plastic is usually flat, overlooked, but when treated like fabric, like sculpture, it begins to behave in unexpected ways. It takes on volume, light, and distortion. That sense of surprise became central. I was drawn to baroque silhouettes, to excess and constructed femininity, reimagined through a material that suggests the opposite, disposability and immediacy. Placing it in New York introduced another layer. I’m still looking at the city with fresh eyes. It felt like the right contrast, this exaggerated, fragile figure set against something so real and monumental. That tension ultimately defined the image for me.
“Plastic is usually flat, overlooked, but when treated like fabric, like sculpture, it begins to behave in unexpected ways. It takes on volume, light, and distortion. That sense of surprise became central.”