Einstein’s Marbles – The beginning

With the purchase of a vintage marble collection I found on Kijiji, came a new and exciting challenge for mosaic creation. The thousands of marbles came in all different sizes, colours, and textures. Within minutes of brainstorming possible subjects to use in the mosaic, Einstein and marbles had an instant connection for me. Not in a sense that he had “lost his marbles,” but more so that he had so many “marbles” overall, simply put: a genius. Above is a reference image I have created for the mosaic’s final product.

The image of Einstein I chose requires 1,600 marbles, most of which are average in size, are colorful, and also transparent. The mosaic’s full potential is best viewed being lit from behind.

Here is an image of the mosaic’s building process. The marbles are sitting gently inside a web of fishing wire weaved inside a wooden frame. There is a layer of glass underneath them, then a light-table below for more precision in marble placement. The finished mosaic will be epoxyed to a big sheet of drilled lexan.

The whole process has been a bit of a challenge, but the finished product will be well worth it and a great learning experience for future projects. “Einstein’s Marbles” will have its first showing at the “Revision” art exhibit held in Granville, Vancouver on September 5th – 7th.