Salt Water Deluge (2020)
Salt Water Deluge (2020) is a work that centres around healing and preservation of culture following the brutal regime of the Khmer Rouge. The art of silk weaving, a matrilineally handed down tradition, was one of many art forms targeted and came close to being erased by the Khmer Rouge perpetrators. Defiant of this, Salt Water Deluge sources silk fabrics from Cambodian artisans practiced in the art of silk weaving.
The work uses water collected from Windamere Lake, a site located on Wiradjuri land, and combines the lake water with salt to create a saline solution. The water was collected in consultation with the Wiradjuri people of the area. The silk fabrics are submerged in the salt water, a process similar to a method the artists’ parents use to pickle vegetables in their home. Through this process, salt crystals form upon the fabric. Harnessing the preserving and curing properties found in salt and water, the work acknowledges how trauma embeds itself within objects and survivors and looks towards remedial actions and processes to move towards healing.