Salt and plastics are everywhere on earth that humans are, as well as most places where we aren’t. The Halophilic series began with an interest in how far removed our experience of salt is from its presence as an earthly mineral. Both materials are so abundant that they tend to escape notice; both trace their roots to deep within the earth, although we’re unlikely to think of them that way; and both have peculiar abilities to seem to appear and disappear of their own volition. The Halophilic photographs and collages bring salt and plastics into the same visual space.

In geology, the term “halophilic” describes elements of salt-dependent ecosystems, and salt formations are often indicators of petroleum in the earth. In our time, both salt and plastic are everywhere humans are, and most of the places where we are not. As familiar and close at hand as salt is, imagery of it abounds in cultural expression, from the enigmatic to the mundane. Plastics have become as inevitable as salt, and nowhere near as benign. What kind of poetics do we have for a world that is infused with plastics at every level? What kind of stories could possibly fit the world we’re creating now?
 

Materials: Lamined Glass
Dimensions: 72″ x 128″
Location: Concourse D, Post-security Terminal
Type: Photography