In technical terms mirabilite, also called Glauber’s salt, is a sodium sulfate salt used in the production of salt cake. It is harvested from evaporation ponds on Great Salt Lake in the cold winter months and was named by Johann Rudolph Glauber who synthesized it. More poetically, mirabilite’s name is based on the Latin phrase Sal mirabilis or “wonderful salt.”

Note: The small pouch differs from the large only in depth, creating more volume in the large pouch.

This piece won the 2016 Alfred Lambourne Prize for Visual Arts from Friends of Great Salt Lake in their annual exhibition.