• created 2020
• cipollino marble & granite
• 16”H x 6”W x 6.5”D (41cmH x 15cmW x 17cmD)
• private collection, Hornby Island, BC, Canada

I began work on this sculpture in Sept. 2018, when I rented studio space in Seravezza, Italy. This variety of marble was new to me, but caught my eye in a finished piece done by one of the studio owners, Cynthia Sah. Cipollino (Italian for onion) is quarried in Italy and Greece, and the Italian quarry is conveniently located east of Seravezza. The stone has a warm yellowish background with striations of swirling green and grey.

Often, artists will revisit a shape or form and one that reoccurs in my work is the open ellipse. I have opened a negative space in this egg-shaped abstract form on one side and created three ridges on the opposite side that liken to a seashell. I wanted to create a simple form that held shadows, and did not fight with the lively pattern of the marble. I’ve left the surface a smooth, matte finish that is wonderful to the touch.