For my piece, I was inspired by the leaf gradients of Andy Goldsworthy, and I really wanted to lean into the temporary and futile nature of land art. I had a few ideas coming into this, I knew I wanted to work with the leaves in my backyard, but I was really inspired when I saw my dog laying in the grass. I love my dog, Wicket, so much – I feel as if he’s left his own mark on my heart. So I wanted to channel that feeling of warmth and love for my dog in my piece, and leave “his mark” on nature. He loves being outdoors, too, more than anything, so I felt it was fitting. I gave myself some parameters: I can only work on the “form” for as long as he is sitting in that space; once he leaves or moves, I have to stop. I allowed myself to continue the gradient, but I didn’t want to add to a form whose basis wasn’t there anymore. I layered them as a gradient, some leaves are on top of each other, some aren’t, but my main intention was keeping that form and extending the gradient. I also placed a few scattered leaves to emphasize it’s “incompleteness”.
I had fun – it was a bit hard on my body to go and gather the leaves, funny enough, but I had fun placing and configuring them. Of course, I also enjoyed my time with my dog. He actually started eating the leaves, and would eat every leaf I put near him, but eventually he stopped and I managed to make an outline before he got bored/left. He actually came back to be with my again as I finished placing the rest of my gradient, which I thought was ironic, in a sweet way.
