Salt Imaginaries - Camino Series

Salt Imaginaries is an ongoing research project about discarded minerals and extractive processes in the Atacama Desert in Chile, that present minerals as natural and cultural carriers of histories and local narratives. With the purpose of re-thinking the value of disregarded minerals and mining waste, the project investigates the saline crust of the Desert in its different states, forms and landscapes, unravelling hidden micro & macro narratives.

‘Camino’ is the first series of artworks in this project made with salt collected from the Atacama Desert in the region of Tarapacá. The road that connects the open salt mine pits in Salar Grande with the port in Iquique is filled with crystalline leftovers that fall from the trucks on the side of the road, where the pure NaCa gets mixed with sand, dust and gravel. These four pieces were created with the unique sample of salt collected from this road during the 10 days field trip that initiated this project in 2019.

The salt contents of the tiled surfaces, slowly crystallize over time, bringing a unique character of mutability and dynamism to each piece that reminds us of how mineral materials are always evolving and performing with the environment. Playing with geometry, repetition and light, the pieces are also changing to the eye on a short timescale, with shifting shadows and patterns projected on the white surface throughout the natural day. The series creates geometrical alignments that speak to the graphic geometries of ancestral cultures in the Atacama.