Elizabeth Saloka's Vibrant Painted Rocks Adopt the Personalities of Snacks and Pop Culture Icons

"Last fall, I bought a ton of marble scraps off a sculptor in Woodstock for like, $10 off Facebook. 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."

"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. 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."

Elizabeth Saloka transforms discarded rocks and rubble into intricate sculptures resembling familiar consumer goods, brand products, and pop culture references. She sources materials from demolition sites, parking lots, and urban construction areas, carefully selecting stones based on their shapes and textures. Her work includes recreations of grocery items like Babybel cheese and Pret a Manger sandwiches, currency stacks, crackers, erasers, and nostalgic references. Saloka actively collects specific rock shapes that naturally occur rarely, particularly rectangular forms ideal for box-like objects. Her artistic practice combines humor with nostalgia, drawing from childhood memories and recognizable cultural touchstones. Her work appears in multiple New York gallery exhibitions during spring and summer.

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