There is this amazing fig tree on my way to the train station. Although the fruits are not edible, the leaves fill the air with an unmistakable scent of figs. The huge leaves also remind me of a frog’s foot.
That’s when an idea to create rings from the leaves cropped up in my head.
Using the slip technique, I coated the leaves with a thick paste made from metal clay that was been liquefied. It was a very easy technique to get an almost identical imprint of the leaves.
The most difficult bit of this project was actually firing it in the kiln. This wasn’t because of some difficult process or specific requirement, it was because UK was bathing in a heatwave and I couldn’t bear the thought of introducing more heat to the flat! So the clay rings sat on the window ledge to bake in the sun for a good few days. Eventually, the weather cooled down a bit and I immediately fired it in the kiln.
The leaves let out their last scent as they burnt away but the organic print from each leaf was immortalised in the rings it eventually became.
It’s amazing how nature serves as an endless inspiration for all kinds of projects. It shows how much we still rely on nature and how we must cherish it.
I hope this fig tree outlives me and continue to grace the town with its scent.
Stephen Yong 