Salton Sea: Shore
Salton Sea: Jetty
Salvation Mountain: Tree Swing
Salvation Mountain: Tree Swing Canopy
Salvation Mountain: Devotion Truck
Salvation Mountain: Tires and Paint Buckets
Salvation Mountain: The Mountain Itself
Salvation Mountain: Desert Cat
Salvation Mountain: View from the Top
Artist Statement:
I first learned about Salvation Mountain through a friend, and my initial attraction to it was fueled by its location, the Southern California desert, and the simple curiosity of wanting to be near all those colors, all that texture. But when I actually got there, my attraction to Salvation Mountain became more abstract. I climbed to the top of the mountain and looked out into Slab City below, "The Last Free Place on Earth," and understood The Salton Sea was nearby, how it used to be the place to vacation, to swim, and how a series of storms changed all that. How fish carcasses lined the shore, now. There was an odd balance of sea, land, life, and death in this place, and my curiosity expanded beyond wanting to experience the mountain by climbing it, by photographing its colors and textures. I wanted to understand where I was, how one man’s spiritual vision could explode into something so massive, and most of all, what I could learn from being here—what I could take, and what I could give back. So I gave my attention to the mountain, and in that attention, I gave the mountain the moment. I asked to receive peace.
"You can believe in God, but do you know God?" A wise woman said to me before I left for Niland. I was in Los Angeles, returning to the first place I traveled as an adult, the place that gave me the courage to keep traveling around America.
I thought about "knowing" God when I got to Niland. I climbed Salvation Mountain to the top and understood no matter how you know God, no matter what your spiritual beliefs are, there's something about being in the middle of nowhere that makes you feel incredibly grounded in yourself. And that awareness is a gift.
It almost felt like I was in an incubator, the heat rising from the ground, falling from the sky, surrounding me and giving me the energy to keep growing, the courage to admit we are the only ones who can fully know ourselves, and that's okay. In fact, it's beautiful.
Learn more about the mountain here: Salvation Mountain
And about the Salton Sea here: Salton Sea
Ashley Inguanta earned her MFA from the University of Central Florida and has taught several Introduction to Creative Writing courses at the university level. She has also worked as a Creative Writing Instructor at Lakeside Alternative, a mental health facility. In January, she will begin serving as Director of Maitland Poets & Writers, leading community workshops and hosting a monthly reading series.
Most recently, her photography has appeared in make/shift magazine. Ashley is also a steady contributing artist for SmokeLong Quarterly and has photography forthcoming in Redivider.
Her fiction and poetry have appeared in Wigleaf, SmokeLong Quarterly, Gone Lawn, and Sweet: A Literary Confection, among other journals, and this year she earned an Honorable Mention in Glimmer Train for their Very Short Fiction Award. Also, Ashley's fiction is forthcoming in several anthologies, including Burrow Press’ 15 Views of Orlando, Nicole Mongahan's Stripped, and Francesca Lia Block's love magick.
Keep up to date with her publications and travels here: ashleyinguanta.com
ISSUE:
W I N T E R
2011-2012
ART FEATURE:
An Introduction
to Deltiology
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