Oolong Gallery’s new solo exhibition, “[4: 画像:Simulacrum]” features the unique salt print works of local artist Hiroshi McDonald Mori, on display through March 10 at the new Encinitas location.
“Hiroshi McDonald Mori’s artistic journey is a captivating exploration of material, chemistry, and force, guided by an instinctive trust in desire and a relentless questioning of rationality,” wrote Oolong Gallery owner Eric Laine. “In [4: 画像:Simulacrum] Mori delves into the unique process of salt printing, where the interplay of water purity, temperature, pH, UV light concentration, and weather creates variations that mirror the diverse landscapes and moments captured through his lens.”
Hiroshi McDonald Miro at Encinitas’ Oolong Gallery.
(Eric Laine)
Mori grew up in Rancho Santa Fe and attended La Jolla Country Day School. He went on to attend The Art Institute of Chicago in 1999, taking a year off to work in Japan as a translator before finishing up his degree in 2004. After Chicago he went to New York where he earned his masters of fine art in sculpture from Bard College and worked as a wedding videographer while exploring different digital photography techniques in his art. After some New York residencies, he was invited to show his works in Berlin —he ended up staying for 13 years.
“It was an exciting scene of music and artists and rent was cheaper than in New York City,” said Mori, who became a part of Berlin’s vibrant gallery world. “I didn’t speak a word of German, but I learned it.”
After 13 years working in Berlin, he came back to San Diego right before COVID hit. Now living in Del Mar, he is building his home studio in his garage—the multi-talented Mori also plays the violin and conducts the choir during liturgies at the Saints Constantine and Helen Greek Orthodox Church in Cardiff.
An artist who has worked in the mediums of painting, sculpture, performance, photography and film, in Berlin Mori began experimenting with salt printing— the 19th-century photographic technique developed by William Henry Fox Talbot. Mori mixes the chemistry and makes his own paper for the prints.
“I soak the paper in salt and the salt reacts with silver nitrate so it becomes a light-sensitive material to UV light. I’ve had very different results with every print,” he said. “This process allowed me freedom to challenge commercial photographic standards and create images that I had full control of scale and exactly where I wanted the light-sensitive chemistry to occur.”
Salt pinting in Berlin is different than printing in San Diego due to the differences in the water and light: “I get more subtle prints in Berlin that aren’t so dark and it takes a lot longer to make an exposure because it’s overcast,” he said. Sunny San Diego makes for a more rapid print and he gets richer, darker hues.
The Oolong exhibition is Mori’s first in San Diego since he was 18 years old and had works on display at the San Diego Museum of Art. He met Laine through a mutual friend and he was very interested in getting his work into Oolong.
The prints in the show draw inspiration from Mori’s diverse cultural experiences. Mori said the pieces reflect the Japanese philosophy of “Ichigo ichi-e”, a reminder to praise the fleeting moments in life.
“These pictures are monoprints, they aren’t easily reproduced,” he said. “Each work is singular in that it’s a moment captured.”
Oolong Gallery, which re-located last year from Solana Beach, is located at 687 2nd Street in Encinitas.
