On the Purification of Tooth by Waner Zhang

In a series of four sculpted masks, BA Design student Waner Zhang depicts the process of decay in a single tooth.

The increasignly grotesque masks symbolise dental fear, ageing and transformation, reflecting on our fear and fascination with physical and emotional change.

Inspired by Zhang’s own fear of the dentist, the project examines how horror – especially body horror – can act as a form of emotional processing and self-reflection.

“By confronting decay and transformation directly through visual metaphor, the project creates a space where fear can be externalised, examined, and even appreciated—offering a form of catharsis or emotional release.”

Waner Zhang, BA Design

A woman wearing a mask of a clean white tooth site in a dentists chair. The environment is clear and clinical

A woman wearing a mask of a half-decayed tooth huddles in a mouldy shower.

A woman wearing a mask of a mostly decayed tooth stands in a narrow passageway between a caravan and a wall

A woman wears a mask of a badly decayed tooth. She is wearing a bloodied medical gown and bandages on her arms — Zhang's masks show a tooth in worsening states of decay. They are accompanied by a photoshoot which draws increasingly on themes of body horror and gore.

Zhang has hand-sculpted and painted the four masks. The project is accompanied by a series of photoshoots, which depict the masks in an increasingly terrifying setting, drawing on themes of body horror.

The project work is part of the BA Design Degree Show, A Wild Goose Chase to Catch A Flying Fish, open 19 - 23 June at Copeland Gallery in Peckham, South East London.