Sepia

“We must consider the distinctive characters and the general nature of plants from the point of view of their morphology, their behavior under external conditions, their mode of generation, and the whole course of their life.” -Theophrastus, c. 371 – c. 287 BC Just like humans, trees and plants had to evolve to survive; they live, breathe, breed, suffer, thrive and, ultimately, die. They also have memories, evidenced in the rings of a tree, and maintain communities, evidenced in root networks. All of this, to me, adds up to a form of consciousness – one that we can learn from, if only we could fully appreciate it. I find that leaves and flowers and other pieces of nature find their very own unique personality during the process of decay. For example, two leaves from the same tree will look relatively similar on the branch, but once they have fallen this is seldom the case. They will warp and decay in entirely different ways, revealing an underlying character or attitude that I am compelled to capture. My intent is to memorialize those brief moments when the soul of every natural thing is revealed before its obligatory demise – to revel in a world brimming at once with darkness and possibility.