Simply gorgeous: Japanese artist uses sea salt to bring these sea creatures to life

Artist Mai Hirashima uses an unusual technique to create these inspired pictures.

When you sprinkle salt on your mashed potatoes, what do you see? When you dip a toe into the ocean, do hidden images appear in your imagination?

While most of us would probably think nothing of discarding unused salt, Mai Hirashima saw an opportunity to create images out of salt that would have originally been thrown away or wasted. To do this, she begins by dissolving sea salt in water and painting on black paper with a paint brush.

Next, she takes the paper and controls the evaporation of the salt-laced water by either letting the water dry naturally or holding the paper near a gas stove flame. Acting almost like invisible ink, the pictures start to appear as the water dries.

Sometimes, the artist even controls just how much salt crystallizes by adjusting how intense the heat is when using the gas stove and how close she holds the picture to the flame.

The pictures are incredibly fragile because she doesn’t use any adhesives or glue to preserve them.

Hirashima’s pictures have reportedly sold at various exhibits for upwards of 50,000 yen (~US $489.99).

The artist’s work will be featured in a week-long group exhibit at the Gallery Shin in Tokyo called “Our Ocean Exhibition”. The exhibition begins September 17 and features 15 amazing artists. If you’re in Tokyo, there’s no doubt that you’ll want to take advantage of the opportunity to see these delicate and ethereal pictures in person.

Exhibit Information
Gallery Shin
Address: 6-18-14 Higashi Ueno, Taito, Tokyo
東京都台東区東上野6-18-14
Phone Number: 03-3845-5010
Hours: 11 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
Admission: free
Website

Source: Irorio
Featured image: Instagram/mai_hirashima

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