Ilanit Illouz

Wadi Qelt, in the clarity of the stones is based on a long-term research into natural elements and proposes an experimental photographic study of the eponymous valley, located in the Judean desert, between Jerusalem and Jericho, near the Dead Sea. The dramatic drying up of the lake has transformed the region into a lunar zone, eaten away by salt. The salt, collected from the desert floor, is then used by the artist in his studio to fossilise his prints and give them a sculptural quality. Both an image and a structural component, it makes the work glisten as well as freeze, recalls the living character of the mineral matter as well as its hieratic beauty, suggests a landscape to be contemplated and an ecosystem under threat.