Learn WHY This Artist ''Wears'' White Models As ''Trophy Scarves'' (PHOTOS)

New York, United States - A part-time artist is attracting controversy for his photos in which petite white women are draped around his neck as scarves.

Nate Hill, 36, is a self-described performance artist. His latest stunt, titled Trophy Scarves, is intended to draw attention to the social complexities surrounding mixed-race relationships.

Hill says that the act of posing in a tuxedo with nearly-naked women around his neck is meant to draw attention to an "issue in the public now about black men who might think of being with white women as a status symbol," as he describes it himself.

The project began four months ago, he says, with both professional photographs as well as a series of Instagram mirror selfies.

His images are intended to provoke an extreme reaction which he hopes will "inspire self-examination" in the minds of the photos' viewers.

Hill himself is the child of a black father and white mother, making the issues associated with Trophy Scarves feel 'close to home,' he says.

He adds, "I am not really black, I'm half black, but I don't really identify as black. For me its role playing, I'm playing the role of a black man."

"I just assume she [the model] is playing the role of a white woman," he said of the models' work, also adding, "What difference does it make about me or how I feel about the models, the more important thing is the issue in the public now about black men who might find white woman to be a status symbol."

But more than a racial issue, Hill’s scarf images have drawn blowback from the feminist community as well.

Social media responses to his project currently range from 'disgusting' to 'How would people react if it was a white man "wearing" a black woman?'

Hill even blatantly admits to that objectification, stating "Yes. I mean [the women] are scarves – they couldn't be more objectified, but I did that to make a point."

It is worth noting that Hill is married. He says his wife 'tolerates' his artwork, but that she is primarily shielded from its viral acceleration. He blocked her on Twitter and is going to block her on Instagram, too.

For him, art is a part-time pursuit. He holds a full-time job at a lab that breeds fruit flies for medical testing.