While most of us will pass by stray stones and piles of rubble without much of a second thought, Elizabeth Saloka sees tons of potential. From a couple of rock piles outside of her regular supermarket to crumbling curbs or demolished structures, she sifts through a variety of shapes and sizes to find rocks that may eventually transform into vibrant mimics of common household items, boxed sandwiches from Pret a Manger, or Babybel brand snacking cheese.
“Last fall, I bought a ton of marble scraps off a sculptor in Woodstock for like, $10 off Facebook,” Saloka tells Colossal. “For sandwiches and cakes, crumbling asphalt parking lots are good. When I lived in Sunset Park, they demolished a building a couple blocks from my apartment, and there was a hole in the fence, so I’d go in there and find tons of cool shapes and textures of rubble.”
Using bricks, she creates humorously fat stacks of $1 and $5 bills, and cut pavers become Premium saltine cracker boxes. “That particular rock shape—a long rectangular cube—is to me the holy grail of rock shapes, because it doesn’t really naturally occur too much in nature,” Saloka says. When she finds a particular shape or cut that works well for certain objects, such as Pink Pearl erasers or popular candies, she collects as many as she can.
Pop culture items rule Saloka’s oeuvre, from recognizable grocery store brands to fast food mainstays to memes like the so-called “IKEA monkey” in its tiny shearling coat. There’s also an air of nostalgia for toys, analog film, and pantry staples that many of us associate with our childhoods or an earlier generation.
If you’re in New York, you can see the artist’s work in Snacks and the City at Gotham’s Chelsea gallery space, which runs from March 19 to May 3. Her work will also be including a group show at Galactic Panther, which will be on view from March 27 to May 21. And in June, she’ll participate in a two-person show alongside Kate Bingaman-Burt at Women’s Studio Workshop and a solo exhibition at Here to Sunday. See more on Saloka’s Instagram.
