A Dress Transformed by the Dead Sea Becomes a Sparkling Masterpiece

Israeli artist Sigalit Landau has a deep connection to the Dead Sea, a place she’s loved since childhood. Growing up in Jerusalem, she could see its northern shores from her home, and her family often visited this unique, mineral-rich lake on weekends. These experiences have had a lasting impact on her art, influencing the materials and themes she works with.

In her latest work, Landau collaborated with the Dead Sea itself to create a stunning photo series called “Salt Bride.” In 2014, she submerged a simple black dress in the lake as part of an artistic experiment. Over three months, she regularly checked on the dress, photographing its transformation as salt crystals slowly covered the fabric.

The result was astonishing. The once black dress was now encrusted with sparkling salt crystals, resembling delicate snowflakes. Landau described the transformation as something magical, saying the dress looked like it was covered in snow or sugar—or even touched by death, making it both eerie and beautiful.

“Salt Bride” was inspired by a 1916 Yiddish play called “The Dybbuk” by S. Ansky, a story filled with mystery and supernatural elements. The play tells the tale of a young woman who becomes possessed by the spirit of her deceased true love just before her arranged marriage. Landau wanted to capture this atmosphere of forbidden love and otherworldly forces in her work.

The black dress she used was a replica of a costume worn in 1920s productions of “The Dybbuk.” As salt crystals formed on the fabric, the dress transformed from dark and simple to bright and ghostly, symbolizing the mystical force that had taken hold of it.

When “Salt Bride” was exhibited at London’s Marlborough Contemporary gallery in 2016, viewers were captivated by Landau’s ability to blend the natural beauty of the Dead Sea with supernatural themes. Her work, which turned salt into shimmering, ghostly sculptures, seemed almost otherworldly. By harnessing the power of this ancient landscape, Landau created images that captured the ethereal, delicate essence of a timeless story.