Sea coal was likely mined in the southern U.S. and shipped to the historic and global port of New Haven. The coal now mixes with the sifting sands of northern shores, often unnoticed by human eyes. Arranged intentionally once more in Mourning Sun and Hurricane to evoke a sunset and tropical storm, respectively, Smolinski highlights their texture—whether soft and brittle, or hard and steely—denoting the age of hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen under pressure. This texture determines their reflective quality, which the artist positions to determine spatial depth and light. In each composition depicting natural phenomena of weather, the depth of time that it takes to naturally produce coal clashes with its short-sighted extractive use as a fuel source that contributes to radical weather. Smolinski implicates the temporality and texture of coal within the climate system he extensively researches while also rendering such qualities aesthetically as they catch the light.

-Laurel McLaughlin, curator of Footnotes and Other Embedded Stories, Artspace, 2022