I left Al's studio in 1978 to go independent, and thanks to a government grant I was able to study holographic special effects.

At one point during my research, I tried to solve a holographic problem with a freeze-drying technique.

Back then, freeze-drying was still a new process for drying and preserving plants and meats. Prior to freeze-drying, dehydration was the only way to dry perishable foods. Unfortunately, dehydrated foods often look dark and wrinkled (like raisins). By comparison, freeze-dried foods look realistic when dry.

The technology seemed interesting, so I built a small freeze-dryer and tested it with a fresh strawberry. The fully freeze-dried strawberry looked just like the original fresh strawberry, but without the water. And because it was dry, it weighed less than a feather.

As far as I was concerned, it was beautiful. In fact, it was so beautiful it inspired me to freeze-dry all sorts of foods such as carrots, brussel sprouts, fish and sausages.

I also discovered that freeze-dried tissues could be cut, sanded, glued, drilled and painted just like the balsa wood used to make model airplanes. In fact, it didn't take me long to realize that I was looking at a new sculptural medium.