From ancient Mesopotamia to present-day Australia, salinity has posed a major problem. Along the Murray-Darling basin, termed Australia's 'food bowl', 550000 tonnes of salt is pumped from the ground annually to stem the rise of highly saline groundwater. This work is made from this groundwater salt. Salt is a powerful substance that maintains life by enabling preservation but also induces the death of ecosystems and collapse of empires. Here it becomes a metaphor for the rise and fall of civilisations and issues of environmental decline and food security.
Courtesy of Artereal Gallery
Murray River salt
34 x 32 x 32 cm
Finalist
Judges of the 2011 Woollahra Small Sculpture Prize: Dr Gene Sherman AM (Executive Director of Sherman Contemporary Art Foundation) and Professor Ted Snell AM (Chair of the Visual Arts Board, Australia Council).
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