Wax ecorche: Showing the effects of prolonged cocaine use

•This sculpture aims to show the effects of cocaine addiction lasting over 10 years. The main feature of severe cocaine addiction is the disintegrated septum cartilage due to snorting of the aggressive drug, causing anterior part of the nose beyond nasal bone to prolapse. Cocaine is an addictive stimulant that affects the central-nervous system, sometimes causing numbness in the face. Hence the facial nerve will be shown. It also increases heart rate increasing the chance of heart-attack, so external jugular vein will be displayed. Left hemisphere of the brain will be shown accompanied by information on the base, showing the dopamine and serotonin pathways triggered by this drug. These neurotransmitters are responsible for reward and mood centres. People who suffer from severe cocaine addiction have the neurons in their dopamine pathways damaged to the point where they cannot repair themselves, making the addicts unable to be happy on physiobiological basis. Lastly, the musculature of the eye will be shown because one of the symptoms of cocaine high are widened pupils. The reason for this project is to raise awareness of the effect of extensive use of cocaine.