Isabel Margolin

RAIN (2016)

26 x 31 x 1.5"   Society of American Mosaic Artists, San Diego, CA (juried exhibit)

 SOLD

40 YEARS (2016)

33 x 26.5 x 2", 24k gold foil, Museum of Biblical Art, Dallas, TX. 

The story of Passover is one of exile and wandering. The Bible chronicles the Jewish people's exodus from Egypt and obstacle-filled path to freedom through a vast and unyielding desert. For this piece I employed the indirect method, in which my materials were placed face-down on adhesive paper. In the first day of work on this project, I found a rhythm to my movements and was elated at the possible outcome. But when I returned the following day, I was struck by the fact that the metaphorical sands of my work had shifted. The paths in the work seemed aimless, and my landmarks had vanished. I felt entirely lost and wondered if the piece was worth completing. On one hand I lacked a clear sense of how to proceed, conversely it also felt irrational to abandon a mosaic so quickly when it had taken Moses forty years to reach the Promised Land. With that in mind, I decided to embrace the unknown, to take a leap of faith, and to find a way through the desert.

MARBLES (2015)

26.5 x  28", Society of American Mosaic Artists, Philadelphia, PA (juried exhibit).

The inspiration for this piece came from an attempt to mend a favorite polka-dotted dish, which I had tried to glue back together. The dots were skewed and the edges jagged, creating a lively pattern.  This salvaging also reminded me of the indirect method I use in creating mosaics – placing my materials face-side down on sticky paper and not knowing the results until the work is turned over, cemented, and revealed. With Marbles, it wasn’t until I was half way into the piece that it was begging for a section composed primarily of blue tile, a blue that wouldn’t annex the rest of the piece but just suddenly appear, blend in, and disappear, the way evening stars illuminate and then evanescence behind the Milky Way.

BEEHIVE (2015)

Sold