There is something deeply grounding about working with nature as both subject and collaborator.
This piece began with real leaves â fragile, temporary, and unpredictable. I used them as resist structures during the dye process, allowing the veins, textures, and natural breakdown of the leaf surface to dictate how colour would move and settle. Instead of forcing a print, I let chemistry, time, and material interaction create the final surface.
The process is slow and experimental. Multiple dye layers were built gradually, allowing organic crackling and cellular textures to emerge. The turquoise tracing in the early stage revealed the structural mapping of the leaf â almost like a biological blueprint. As colour layers deepened, warmer tones began to surface, creating a contrast between the living structure of the leaf and the atmospheric background.
The final result feels somewhere between textile and fossil â like capturing a moment of nature suspended in time. The translucency of the fabric allows light to pass through the work, making the veins and textures feel alive and dimensional rather than flat.
Iâm really drawn to processes where I canât fully control the outcome. Thereâs something honest about letting material behaviour speak for itself â it becomes less about decoration, and more about documentation of transformation.
Process. Material. Time. Nature. All equally responsible for the final piece.
Š Yeejing Ooi, 2023.Batik on silk. Whitworth Park, Fallen leave. Size: 42cm x 58cm