Re-leaf

Re-leaf is an ongoing artistic investigation that explores the affordances of paper as material and light as medium. 

The project departs from a practice-led methodology, where observation, manipulation, and reflection form part of an open-ended process rather than a predetermined outcome. The documentation evolves alongside the work itself, registering shifts in thought and practice as the project unfolds.The project’s title, condenses its conceptual scope:
1- Relief evokes the sculptural emergence of volume; 
2- Leaf simultaneously means both “leaf of a tree” and “a sheet/leaf of paper” 
3- The prefix "re-" introduces notions of renewal, repetition, and transformation. 
Together, these layers of meaning articulate a practice situated between painting, sculpture, and ephemeral installation.





Design approach

The central aim is twofold: first, to examine how the manipulation of paper generates poetic forms—folds, tensions, curves, and volumes—that arise from the material’s inherent properties; and second, to study the plasticity of light, understood as its capacity to shape, model, and redefine space. Within this dialogue, paper, colour, and shadow become interdependent elements. Saturated hues act as pure chromatic blocks, engaging in relationships of confrontation or harmony, while the material responds with organic volumetric gestures that emphasize light’s sculptural role.

The work began with papers drawn from a personal archive, and it now opens toward a broader inquiry into transparency, thickness, and scale as variables of expression. This material investigation is guided by recurring questions: What narrative is embedded in these forms? Why does this process hold my attention? The subtle, organic qualities of the resulting structures suggest a translation of sensory experience into form, in which respect for the natural behavior of materials remains fundamental.



References

1. James Turrel (1943, USA)
He uses light as the sculptural material;- there is no object in his installations: the space is transformed from the projection of light, which creates a sense of volume&density; 
For this project: the connection is that the paper is also a space of light and shadow;

On the right photographs of artworks by James Turrel.



2. Josef Albers (1888, Germany)
- He researched how the same colour can be differently perceived depending on its environment and the light that falls on it;
- Is the "Homage to the Square" series there is no shade or relief, but he proves that perception is not static: the same color is able to transform itself depending on its environmental relationship;

For this project: light and shadow add a different perception on the values of the colour; but most importantly the observation of these values and nuances;

All the artworks by Josef Albers


[ongoing project / last update: 28/09/2025]



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