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Things

Fall (落地開花)


落地開花 (luò dì kāi huā) means "hit the ground, flower blooms". A traditional Chinese phrase said after breaking a dish or glass, turning an unfortunate accident into something fortunate. Said fast enough, the accident becomes good luck instead.

This idiom inspired Fall. An exercise in letting go of the need to control the process, by letting nature take over.



The paintings are made by dipping flowers in ink and dropping them from a height onto paper. You could say they are painted by gravity.

There is not much we can control. The height, the flower, the paper, and gravity do most of the work. It lands, and leaves behind a shape. Some look like flowers and some don't. We don't know until it hits the paper.


Each piece happens once. Once it lands, that is the piece and there is no redo.

Gravity does not care what shape it makes, or whether anyone finds it beautiful. Whether it "falls" into something good, or just leaves a mess, is entirely out of our control.






This is part of an ongoing series within Things, where our role shrinks to setting conditions and staying out of the way. A way to co-create with nature and let go of controlling the outcome. 

ARTWORK DETAILS

Flowers dipped in ink, dropped on raw xuan paper, unmounted
One piece only. Available here.


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