Vietnamnese-American artist Binh Danh uses chlorophyll printing to reproduce images of the Vietnam War on tropical plants and grass, imprinting the memories of painful conflict on the very jungle that witnessed it.
Binh Danh collects snapshots, newspaper clippings, letters, and other artefacts of the Vietnam War and Cambodian genocide, and transfers the images to leaves and grasses, using a chlorophyll-printing technique he developed after seeing parts of his lawn change colour when a water hose was left on it for several days. The final leaf-image is then embedded in resin to preserve it. This technique has important symbolic resonance for Danh because the images are not simply printed onto the surface of the leaves, but become part of the structure of their individual cells through photosynthesis, evoking both the transformative horror of war and the Buddhist belief that nothing ever truly dies. It is also significant that the images are imprinted in the leaves by the action of the sun, the source of all life…through these unique photosynthetic portraits, the jungle itself bears witness to the lasting scars of war, and preserves the memory of all those it held in death.
- Profile by Laura A. Guth via Experimental Photography: A Handbook of Techniques by Marco Antonini, Sergio Minniti, Francisco Gomez, Gabriele Lungarella, and Luca Bendandi
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