2023

 

Metal and leaves

 

20 x 40 x 50 in

 

A leaf is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant. If I were a plant, I think about leaves as an extension of my physical body– the fluidity, the freedom, the particle of thoughts that follow the breeze and my memories.

 

Leaves remind me of memories, places, and people.

I like to collect leaves as a habit since I was little. I went to an elementary school located in the mountain, there are leaves everywhere. I just couldn’t help but think leaves are beautiful and wanted to bring them all with me. When leaves are green, they are young but vulnerable just like a kid.

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They live on the tree since they were born; they sing with birds;

they harmonize with the breeze; they play hide and seek with the squirrel.

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Once they left the tree,
you didn’t notice
because they are quiet yet powerful as they symbolize the passage of time when they turned into different colors.

 

And I think about the beginning of the poem, How the Leaves Came Down, by Susan Coolidge.

"I'll tell you how the leaves came down," The great Tree to his children said: "You're getting sleepy, Yellow and Brown, Yes, very sleepy, little Red. It is quite time to go to bed."

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Go to bed – the leaf I made is hanging from the ceiling, as it is a floating bed for a baby. It is very soft and comfortable, so I will emphasize the form in response to how I feel about this leaf.