A couple of weeks ago I went to a Turkish marble art exhibit at UAB. Mine Calik, who moved to Arizona from Turkey with her husband, demonstrated the delicate art of marbling, or Ebru. Marble art begins by mixing seaweed and water in a pan. The artist then drops paint, which has been mixed with oxgall (an animal substance that helps it to expand), into the seaweed mixture. While the paint floats atop the jelly-like substance, the artist carefully creates a design in it. When the design is complete, the artist lays a piece of acid-free paper onto the paint to transfer the picture.


Mine explained to me that the preparation for this art is much harder than creating the design. If the mixture has too much or too little of any ingredient, then it won't work correctly. Mine also told me that Ebru art is connected to the Sufi tradition, a part of Islam that focuses on the mystical realm of spirituality. She said that the art is an example of destiny, you can make plans for how you want it to turn out, but you never really know what the end product will look like.



I played around with this photo, and it's kind of nifty I think.