In the process of marble metamorphosis, sedimentary shell is subjected to heat, pressure, and time, structurally changing to become a fixed and valued rock. Sarah Ujmaia’s installation has been conceived to have the material possibility of a marble floor, achieved through her production of mineral calcite (commonly known as chalk) from shell grit. Spatially the work is informed by the cobblestone paved market squares in northern Iraq—taking a standard yet irregular paver and hand casting its facsimiles to produce a floor. In Marmoreum, the chalk floor invites the valuing of something that remains changing, locating us as active participants in the future of language, conceptually connecting the work to Ujmaia’s interest in the loss of written forms.
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Sarah Ujmaia 'And thank you to my baba for laying the timber floor' 2024. Photo by Christian Capurro.
