Leaf Litter II Diptych

This work comes from one of the most harrowing times in my life—the 2019/20 Australian bushfires. During the fires I collected a handful of the burnt eucalyptus leaves which were continually raining down, still scorching hot, from the sky. Knowing they carried stories of destruction and resilience I photographed the charred leaves and then, taking it further, I used AI and digital manipulation to morph and layer the images, creating something entirely new. The result? A fragmented, patchwork-like composition—almost like a quilt, but stitched together from loss and transformation. The work has an eerie, almost ghost-like quality—shadows shifting, textures coming together yet never quite whole. It’s about memory, about how disaster leaves its mark on the land, and about that fragile space between destruction and renewal.