Fallopia
Colorado Yule Marble
16"
Deep in the Upper Crystal River Valley, just over the mountain from Aspen, lies the town of Marble. In 1874, gold prospector George Yule found one of the largest and purest deposits of marble in the world. In 1905, with help from the Rockefeller family, the quarry was founded. By 1917, the town with a population of 1400, boasted both the world’s largest marble deposit and the world’s largest building under one roof.
Yule Marble was used in many famous buildings and monuments in the US and around the world, including the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Hearst Castle and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
This piece celebrates the breadth of the human imagination. Mounted on a pin in a sleeve, it is meant to pivot. Is it a heart? A bird? A butterfly?
Spin the piece. It is a scary mask? Is it a goat? Is it a praying mantis?
Spin the piece again. Is it a man's shoulders? Is it a woman's pelvis?
Spin the piece once more. Watch the marble crystals dance in the light. What is it to you?