Why "marbling" is the perfect image for Presidental candidate Gov. Bill Richardson of New Mexico.
When Jessie Jackson called his politics "a quilt" or a "rainbow" he was giving us a visual picture of his beliefs.
What really does "marbling" represents? In terms of an image for a political ideology that is.
Firstly, marbling encompasses a infinite variety of colors and shapes. Beauty emerges from chaos. A harmony is created. Marbling has developed in many contries at different times independent of each other.
The Governor Richardson World Collection of Marbled Papers:
Marbling is the art of painting on water and transferring that image to another surface.
“Marbleized” papers have been around for hundreds of year with difference names for it in different languages. From “Ebru” (cloud art) to “Suminagashi” (floating inks), no matter if you call it marbling or “aqueous mono printing” it is the same ancient craft.
The State of New Mexico was the site of the “First International Marblers’ Gathering” and the State currently has a traveling exhibition about marbling called “Rebirth of a Craft.” Governor Richardson has lent his name and support to the establishment of a “permanent collection of marbled paper from around the world” to be housed here in New Mexico. Already people from many different countries have donated marbleized art to this emerging collection.
Like many arts and crafts, marbling done by both men and women. Above, Alexis America watches as Cove 'teases' the colors to make a pattern on the surface of a water bath (thickened with carrageenan).
Cove hangs his "Hippie Marbling" on the Street of Berkeley, California during the 70's.