With HAND MARBLED PAPERS, Bremen-based graphic designer Josie Majetic breathes new life into an age-old craft: marbled paper. Whether delicate tendrils, intoxicating clouds or even wild explosions of color: each marbled paper is a small work of art in its own right and also truly unique. This is because each pattern only exists once due to the technique.
What resembles a printing process is done here using colors that are made to float on the surface of the water. Using pipettes, combs or brushes, these are woven into imaginative patterns and then removed with a sheet of paper and printed. What sounds simple at first is a small science in itself and requires a lot of practice and a little patience. Both the water bath and the colors have to be specially mixed.
Used to decorate a box or a cabinet, as endpaper or writing paper – marbled paper was already very popular in the 16th century and was even used as paper for official documents due to its forgery resistance. Rooted in Asia, it later found its way to Turkey and Persia until it finally found its way to Europe in the 17th century and was mainly used for bookbinding. Since then, the areas of application of the art of marbling have been at least as diverse as its history. Whether in therapeutic treatments, language development or in art and occupational therapy measures – it is no wonder that the art of Ebru, as it is called in Turkey, has been included in UNESCO’s list of intangible world cultural heritage since 2011.
