Isotta Page carves deep time. Her material is Carrara quarry offcuts, the industrial leftovers of centuries of extraction. Working by hand, she makes marble sculpture at a human scale, shaping forms inspired by the origins of the stone itself, from the ancient sea life it was made from to the mountains it became. Her practice grew out of an art historian's eye, formed growing up among the marble ruins of Rome, yet it is distinctly of this moment, shaped by research into geology and the Anthropocene. She sets out to make marble light, using patinated steel to suspend the stone and create floating sculptures. Marble is one of the few materials that is time made physical, and her work uses it to unsettle our narrow, human sense of time. Each sculpture is an access point to the long history that led to us, and to what will remain of us.
Das medium ist die nachricht
The medium is the message
29 x 38 x 14cm (both)
Installed at Sophie-Charlotte-Platz metro station in Berlin, this site-specific work features two hand-carved Carrara marble spirals and a vinyl decal of a triangle-shaped marble block. Together, they form a minimal, face-like composition that engages with pareidolia, the human tendency to perceive faces in inanimate objects.
From a distance, the elements appear unified; up close, the illusion unravels. Solid marble contrasts with the flatness of the vinyl, evoking a tension between permanence and surface, ancient material and modern artifice.
Curated by Muriel McIntyre, the exhibition was part of an initiative to place art in public and unexpected spaces. The metro setting encourages brief yet meaningful encounters, offering a moment of contemplation within everyday routines.
This is the second work in an ongoing series exploring the universal spiral motif. The first iteration is permanently installed in Lugnola, Italy.
The medium is the message
100 x 50 x 30cm
The public sculptures were made during the Cammino Via di Francesco residency and are permanently installed in the town of Lugnola, behind the church of San Cassiano on the border of Lazio & Umbria in Italy. 📍Location
Marble serves as a portal into geological time, formed long before humanity ever existed. Two spirals rise as symbols of continuity and eternity, evoking a bygone classical era.
This idea materializes in a sculpture where the marble spirals blend with an industrial base crafted from recycled steel beams, salvaged from a Tuscan residential building. These beams, still bearing the original marks of their industrial history in Piombino, create a dialogue between past and present.
In this context, the spirals resemble eyes gazing over the landscape, inviting us to perceive the scenery as a fleeting moment within the vast expanse of Earth’s history. While our lives are brief, marble endures for millions of years, offering us a rare and almost unfathomable perspective on the scale of geological time.
Moving Upwards
- 2024,
hand carved Macael
marble & steel base
- 25 x 15 x 56cm
Moving Upwards, is where land and body converge, featuring a female torso that dissolves into folds of marble, seamlessly becoming part of the landscape. The arch of the back is both topographical and intimate, capturing a state of constant transformation. As part of the ongoing series Dark Optimism: Ghost in the Stone, this work blurs the lines between drawing and sculpture, embodying themes of unity, metamorphosis, and the interconnectedness of nature and humanity.
Private Collection