“Search Portrait” is an unfiltered display of the artist’s Google searches, broadcast in real time onto a split-flap display. Nothing is excised or censored. In doing so, it opens up a window inside someone’s digital life, equal parts “The Truman Show” and Samuel Pepys’ diary. This new media installation creates a portrait of the artist like never before.

A person’s search history is a dangerous place to go. Also, banal. Also, beautiful. Also, morbid and lecherous and … pick a word. It’s that. You are one or two faces to the world, but you are a limitless number when you look into the mirror of the Internet. Gabriel Garcia Marquez wrote that everyone has three lives – a public life, a private life and a secret life – this is the level below the third option. Your unfettered curiosity is the closest you will get to your reptile self – all id, all longing, something deeper than secret. When you think, ‘Is there any way anyone can read this?’ – well, here you go.

Upon entering the gallery, the viewer is confronted by what appears to be a flock of birds that have flown directly into the wall. There is an ambiguity between the recognizable bird anatomy (feathers/wings) and the plant forms such as orchids and varying foliage that make up each amorphous shape. Salazar poignantly asks the viewer to contemplate the cultural symbolisms associated with birds such as freedom, love, divinity, peace intertwined with the abrupt juxtaposition of the bird’s metaphorical loss of flight.

Salazar continues to lead the viewer to contemplate decomposition and the transformation of the bird’s journey into new growth as the work alludes to a continuum metamorphosis and begs the viewer to ponder such questions as to what life looks like after trauma when we individually and in certain circumstances collectively are no longer whom we were before. Individually hand-sculpted in red clay, these sculptures draw us in with their natural details and tones.

Salazar’s artistic brilliance has garnered international recognition, with his work showcased in prestigious exhibitions and biennials. Notably, his solo exhibition “Forever Bird: Botanicals” at the Gardiner Museum in 2021 stood as a testament to his ability to transcend boundaries and immerse viewers in captivating narratives. Further solidifying his position on the global stage, Salazar participated in the 3rd International Biennial of Asuncion in Paraguay in 2020, presenting his remarkable “Forever (Bird Botanical Installation)” in its second iteration. This profound exhibition revealed Salazar’s ability to traverse cultural landscapes, bridging diverse traditions with his visionary artistry.