California-based artist Cain Motter explains the inspiration behind his credit card sculptures. "I started college in 1994 and they apparently sold students' information to banks, so I received credit card applications in the mail. I didn't have any intention of using them but one bank said it was good to have in case of an emergency, so I decided to get one."

"A couple of weeks later they sent out a $50 (£32) cheque made out to me so I put it in my account, but then I got a bill and it turned out to be a cash advance. I couldn't believe they could operate that way and was really mad, so I decided I would figure out a way I could reverse that money flow and have money coming back to me."

"I first made pendants out of the cards, but no-one was interested and I was getting frustrated so I thought I'd just burn it. I was trying to set it on fire and that's when it turned to a rubber consistency. So I pulled and stretched it and as soon as I saw how elastic it became I knew I could work with it."

"I then accepted all credit card applications to use them for art, but in time I ran out of money. I had all these credit cards so I actually started using them to live and now I'm in the same situation as a lot of other people in debt."

"At some point I'll pay them off with the money that I'm making from the cards. I wanted to rise above the whole mess but it is more entertaining this way - it's like feeding bacon to a pig. But I don't spend on credit cards anymore."

"I did a show in 1995 with about 10 card sculptures and no-one was ever on the same page as me - everyone was happy with their credit cards. But I said: 'Just wait, if they can trick me then there’s a lot of other people that are going to fall for this.' I've been doing it all these years and finally a lot more people relate with me."

"I only sell prints of my sculptures because my goal is to get my whole collection of credit and store cards into a museum like the Smithsonian because it's culturally relevant and credit cards will become obsolete in the not-too-distant future."