Marbling is the centuries-old art form of transferring paint suspended on water to a piece of paper, fabric, or other material. Paints are dripped into a tray of water thickened with carrageenan and manipulated with skewers, rakes, and combs to produce mesmerizing patterns. The marbler dips their paper or fabric onto the water’s surface to transfer the design.

Claire Marks is a self-taught marbler based in Akron, Ohio. Her journey started as a printmaking student at the Cleveland Institute of Art, where she experimented with monotypes made by suspending oil paint on water. Since then, she’s picked up traditional tricks of the marbling trade and makes her patterns using acrylics rather than oils. Her approach to the process is one of discovery and play, so no two papers she creates are exactly the same.