Most people pass rubble without a second look. Elizabeth Saloka treats it as raw material. Over the past decade, she has developed a practice of turning found stones into precise, hand-painted replicas of snacks and everyday objects, from peanut butter jars to boxed sandwiches and early mobile phones.
Based in New York City, Saloka gathers materials from sidewalks, parking lots, construction sites, and demolition zones. Her sourcing is specific. Marble scraps come from studio leftovers. Asphalt yields irregular textures suited for cakes or sandwiches. Broken bricks and pavers provide clean edges for packaging forms.
“Last fall, I bought a ton of marble scraps off a sculptor in Woodstock for about $10 on Facebook,” she told Colossal. “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. There was a hole in the fence, so I’d go in and find shapes and textures of rubble.”
Material choice started as a constraint. Traditional supplies were too expensive, and paper-based work was fragile. Stone offered a low-cost, durable alternative. It also introduced a structural logic. Each object begins with a search for the right form. A long rectangular paver might become a cracker box. A rounded stone suggests a jar or cheese wheel.
“That rectangular cube shape is the holy grail,” Saloka says. “It doesn’t naturally occur often.” When she finds a useful form, she collects multiples and assigns them to recurring objects such as erasers, candy, or packaged snacks.
Her catalog draws heavily from consumer culture. Recognizable grocery brands, fast food items, and internet-era references appear alongside older touchpoints such as analog film and childhood pantry staples. The execution is exact. Labels, color matching, and surface wear are rendered through layered paint and controlled brushwork.
The work centers on consumption and time. Snacks are designed for immediate use and disposal. By translating them into stone, Saloka extends their lifespan and shifts their function. The objects move from disposable goods to fixed artifacts, prompting a slower reading of items tied to comfort, identity, and routine.
Saloka is currently presenting 70 pieces in her first solo exhibition, Snacks and the City, at Gotham Chelsea, on view from March 19 through May 3. Additional work appears in a group exhibition at Galactic Panther from March 27 to May 21. In June, she will take part in a two-person show with Kate Bingaman-Burt at Women’s Studio Workshop and a solo presentation at Here to Sunday.
More works are published on her Instagram.
