You can smell it for miles before you arrive, a rotten-egg smell that makes your throat constrict. Welcome to the Salton Sea, California’s biggest lake and one of the lowest spots on earth at -227 below sea level. Considered to be among the world’s most vital avian habitats and — until recently — one of its most productive fisheries, the Salton Sea is in a state of wild flux. the scene of fish and bird die-offs of unfathomable proportions. The sea was accidentally formed by a run off from the Colorado River and it is land locked. This means the agricultural runoff, including DDT, ammonia, possibly carcinogenic herbicides like trifluralin and other chemicals, has nowhere to go creating a looming environmental cataclysm. My project, the Dead Sea Scrolls, uses beauty to call attention to environmental disaster as do most of my projects. This collection was awarded the 100 Best of Art and Design by the Creative Quarterly and has been exhibited nationally.
