Strata Extraction, 2014 Mixed Media: plastic, paint, steel, paperboard, salt. Dimensions Variable: 10’ x 14’ x 5’. Installed at John’s Hopkins University Library. On Mars, the blowing winds twirl red dust up from the surface. Without an atmosphere, the crimson spirals soon bleach white. The planet’s core cooled too quickly– the only sign of life, Our rovers, extracting salt and sand from icy layers. A meditation on the examination of Mars’ massive and distant landscape grain by grain. Strata Extraction is a homage to the imagination and vision of people and the imperfect pursuit of knowledge in the name of science. Elements of the sculpture include: a capillary array from a DNA analyzer; a series of stratified and topographic “transverse aeolian ridges” called TARs from the Noctis Labyrinthus region of Mars; and the Curiosity Rover.