The Fire Horse Fascinator: Money to Burn was created on February 22, 2026, for the online HOX Zodiac celebration of Lunar New Year. In the Year of the Fire Horse, bold energy meets unstoppable momentum, igniting prosperity, passion, and the power to charge toward success.

Constructed on a posterboard base, this wearable sculpture incorporates multiple paper materials, including strike paper, lottery tickets, and raffia ribbon. The crown is encircled by a ring of matches. At its center, the horse brushstroke illustration was painted with handmade ink derived from ashes collected during a ritual burn on the feast of St. Brigid, the Irish goddess associated with fire, poetry, and transformation.

On smaller heads, the Fire Horse Fascinator may be worn in the style of a boater hat or tilted askew as a fascinator. On larger heads, it is best positioned at the crown for a halo effect, or worn at an angle in traditional fascinator style. Three ribbon loops allow the piece to be secured with hairpins. Though treated with an art fixative, the fascinator should not be worn in wet weather.

HOX genes have long fascinated the artist. Among their many roles in animal development is cephalization: the evolutionary and embryological process by which sensory organs and nervous tissue become concentrated at the front end of the body, forming a head. The Fire Horse Fascinator celebrates bold fortune and combustible ambition with wit, glamour, and just a hint of danger.

Artist Bio

CC Hart is a San Francisco–based interdisciplinary artist, writer, and researcher whose work explores synesthesia, embodied perception, and multisensory experience. Her projects often bridge art, science, and storytelling through wearable sculpture, film, and installation. Hart is an active collaborator with Art Sci Now and HOX Zodiac, where she develops imaginative works inspired by the Chinese zodiac, ritual traditions, and cross-cultural symbolism.

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