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.
Acroterion
- 2026, Carrara Marble & Steel, 100 x 40 x 30cm
Acroterion is the crowning work of Ponder Peace. An acroterion is a small ornament placed atop the pediment of a Greek temple. Here it is blown up to 3 meters and split in two, one half finished in weathered steel, the other in oxidized copper, pairing a classical symbol with industrial patinas. The carved sections draw on the loose, searching line of Jim Dine's Glyptotek drawings. Set among the trees and rocks, the work frames the landscape around it, its patinas shifting with the season and the light.
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.