2023, Video, Single channel video, HD, color, 5 ’
Fireworks
This work involves using flames to visualize and observe heavy metal elements within hyperaccumulator plants. The environment and organisms are interconnected, with information from the environment leaving traces on plants through rivers and soil. In this artwork, the artist burns hyperaccumulator plants to ashes and creates a unique glaze applied to ceramic pieces shaped like leaves. After high-temperature firing, the metal particles within the plant transform into the colors of the glazed surface on the ceramic leaves. Some resemble dried leaves, while others resemble tender shoots, all determined by the metal components in the plant ash. The artist continues to observe the glaze under a microscope, discovering that the diverse colors originate from variations in the crystallization of metals. These melted and solidified metal crystals are traces of human activities in the environment.