By now, the artist and photographer Petra Collins’s name has become shorthand for a distinctive aesthetic. It might be used aspirationally, or derisively—the vibe you want for your ad campaign, the comparison you want to avoid at your undergrad photo crit. It has come to mean soft, dreamy focus; hazy, colored lighting; windows, phones, mirrors; glitter, flowers, lingerie. It is intimate but somehow surreal. It is nostalgic while still feelinng young. It is positively addictive, and has inspired a legion of imitators—but none who can keep up with her broadening vision.

Collins is now lending her eye to “The Goddess,” a collaboration between Cadillac and Artnet that is being unveiled today on Artnet Auctions, alongside works by Ming Smith and Dannielle Bowman. Each photographer was asked to present a vision of a contemporary goddess after the ornament that adorns Cadillac’s new ultra-luxury EV, CELESTIQ.

Collins is 30, but has been producing work for 15 years. She continues to experiment with transformation, objectification, and surrealism. The images are surprisingly personal. “This shoot breathed some new life into me, and I was able to work with themes that have been sitting in my mind for a while,” she said. “Working with Cadillac on this was interesting because their car played a massive part in my childhood.”

She continued, “I grew up with Cadillac. It was my family’s prize possession, but it was also my safe space. Even when my home life crumbled, I could still get into that car and feel like we had something.”

In one photo, her interpretation of the brand’s 1933 “Chrome Goddess,” her deities appear cold but beguiling, powerful but youthful. The icy chrome of their complexions is striking against the soft peach of a typical midcentury work environment. Their heads scrape the ceiling; either they’re giants or they’re in a dollhouse. Alien and ambiguous, uninterested in our gaze, the goddesses play.

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