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esther solondz is a visual artist who lives and works in providence, rhode island. she received an mfa in photography from rhode island school of design, as well as doing graduate work in film at new york university. she has been the recipient of several grants and awards, including three rhode island arts council fellowships (photo 1981, painting 1996, sculpture 2002) and a new england foundation for the arts regional national endowment for the arts fellowship in painting in 1992. her work has been widely exhibited and reviewed over the last 20 years in one person and group shows at museums and galleries throughout the northeast.

esther has been working for several years with a variety of ordinary materials such as salt, water, soap, and rust to create her art.  these materials each have their own special properties that allow them to transform into highly various states, (ie. solid to liquid and then back again.)   she utilizes these properties to let surprising things happen as the materials interact and change.  salt mixed with water transforms into crystals, wicks and travels, forms mounds or stalactites.  when salt is mixed with iron, rust forms in all its many guises and colors, sometimes eroding other materials, or leaving the accretion of marks behind.