Beginning at the Coney Island World in Wax Musee in 1983, a year before it closed, the photographs of "Waxworld" were made in numerous wax museums in North America and Europe over seven years.

"Waxworld" uses the question of where reality ends and illusion begins—a subject inherent in waxwork displays—as a starting point for exploring human interactions in both public and private spheres.

The series is, in part, a response to these often misogynist distortions—a refictionalizing of the subjects that removes them yet further from their origins. In doing so, Wides creates new visual artifacts, producing worlds for the viewer to sort out.