FATED FOLIOLE

In Japan, the aesthetic world view Mono no Aware describes a sensibility for impermanence, or the transience of things, and a gentle sadness felt at their passing. According to the aesthetic, beauty is often found in unexpected forms. A falling or wilting autumn flower is considered more beautiful than one in full bloom; a fading sound more elegant than one clearly heard.

Fated Foliole applies this aesthetic to a more invasive yet equally ephemeral act of nature: the skeletonization of leaf matter by the Japanese beetle. Using the carousel structure as a framework, a single live leaf is gradually consumed in five stages. When viewed in the round, the cycle of decay gives way to renewed growth before succumbing to the beetle once more.

Hand-cut, kakishibu-dyed handmade kozo created by the artist.
One-of-a-kind
2012

In the collection of the Frank Mt. Pleasant Library of Special Collections & Archives at Chapman University.