Zhenye
the Leaves
Fall
2026When a leaf drifts down from a tree, dancing and spinning in the wind before finally settling into the soil, it marks a natural cycle. The tree’s internal rhythm drives the growth of its leaves, and their fall stands as a witness to the tree's own rise and decline.
In fall, I was walking on the pathway toward my home, and saw the leaves falling around me. I found a deep connection between the
natural path of a falling leaf and the heavy moments in human society. When the physical movement of a leaf overlaps with a person’s choice to fall, nature’s inevitability crashes into social complexity. One is a quiet exit within a natural cycle; the other is a desperate search for away out of social pressures. Through the Chlorophyll Process, I etch these images of falling onto wilting organisms, letting nature and life having one descent together.
This work was selected and exhibited in Perspective Gallery.