A found, colonial bust made of salt forms the central figure in this woven assemblage by Suchitra Mattai. A central work in Osmosis, Mattai’s first solo exhibition with Kavi Gupta, the piece is titled salt of the earth, a folk reference to ordinary, hard working people of honor and good heart. Salt is integral to the process of osmosis, which involves the migration of water molecules from one region to another. To create several of the works in Osmosis, Mattai employed salt as both a sculptural medium and a chemical instigator of aesthetic transformation. The material empowers Mattai’s aesthetic expressions of emergence and loss as they relate to the layering of new stories and cultural traditions atop those that already exist. Mattai’s family migrated across the salt water sea from India to Guyana during an era of colonial indentured servitude. Generations of women in her family worked as laborers—a history referenced by the vintage saris and domestic labor techniques Mattai used to create this work. Salt has an ancient history as currency given in exchange for labor; and also as sustenance; as medicine; as something that can add flavor to life in many ways; and as a commodity, the control over which can bestow enormous power of individuals and groups. Salt water migrations from the east have in numerous ways shaped the character of contemporary Caribbean culture.