Be the Leaf

For my assignment, I chose to explore leaves in nature. I chose leaves because each single leaf works together as a whole in forming the tree. While each leaf is it's own entity, it can also be part of something greater.

Branching from this idea (no pun intended) the dichotomy I chose was Singularity vs. Juxtaposition

Singularity

In my Singularity composition, I chose to simply use the shape of the leaf. This shape is readily recognizable and even though it is not a simple shape, it easily readable as a leaf. It stands and exits on it's own and does no require the aid of another visual element to establish it's purpose or place as a leaf.

Juxtaposition

For my Juxtaposition composition, I looked carefully at a photo of a leaf and you could see that the veins that ran through the leaf broke off into increasingly smaller veins and eventually branch into a cluster of textures cells (similar to how upon close examination, our skin also is made up of smaller shapes). Just like the leaves are a part of the tree, these cluster of cells is a part of the leaf and helps to build up the object we recognize as a leaf. Therefore, I chose to break up the leaf into smaller and a lot more simpler shapes. The shapes themselves when looked at individually cannot stand on their own - they do now carry much significance, but when place next to another shape, depending on the spacing of the shapes from one another, the shapes begin to take on another form. When the smaller shapes are placed further apart from each other, you can begin to recognize the larger veins in the leaf and the negative space begins to branch off into smaller and tighter spaces.