Fine Art nominee

There’s a fashion in everything. Even in ideas being spread. We can catch some like viruses and be absolutely sure that we now found the truth and discovered our way in this world. We cling to the illusion that now we have it under control.



The project is exploring how beautiful ideas like human connection, self-love, visualization of dreams to make them come true, positive thinking, caring for the planet, and finding peace often get twisted in the minds of those who catch them like a virus without going too deep into understanding what’s really behind. The project is an attempt to speculate what happens when an idea is downgraded to a fashionable trend and becomes just another trait of the mass culture.



The name of the project was inspired by David Bowie’s album name “Plastic Soul”.

Dasha Pears is an award-winning Russian conceptual photographer, currently based in Helsinki, Finland. Dasha’s unique style is dreamlike and whimsical. Her works tell stories that combine real life and surrealism, making the viewer stop and think.

She started her photographic path in 2011, after reaching burnout in a marketing communications career. Having tried many types of photography, Dasha found herself in the conceptual and fine art sphere. Since then her images have been exhibited in Russia, France, Poland, Austria, and Finland. Her work was also named among the winners of Best of Russia’15, had an honorable mention during Trierenberg Super Circuit 2017 and 2018 photography contests in Linz, Austria, and won a bronze medal during Prix de la Photographie Paris, 2018. Dasha’s photographs are used worldwide by companies like Trevillion, ArcAngel, plainpicture and Millennium Images, and can be found on covers of books published in Europe, the United States and South America.



In 2016 Dasha started sharing her experience of organizing conceptual photography shoots and producing surrealist artworks in the form of creative photography workshops. Since then she has held over 15 events in Finland and abroad..