The fabric of life
Elizabeth Banfield
Australia
The eucalypt forests of southern Australia have a beautiful yet complicated life cycle, of which fire is an important part.
The leaves featured on these bookmarks are based on actual specimens collected in Sherbrooke Forest during the summer of 2013/14. They had fallen from Eucalyptus regnans, the tallest flowering plant in the world.
Despite being an evergreen tree, some of its leaves fall to the ground at all times of the year. In winter they are fresh and green and covered with large clusters of bright pink insect larvae casings, sent to the forest floor by birds attempting to get at the delicious meal within.
In contrast, and as if to remind us of the potential volatility of this natural environment, the summer leaves are yellow and dry, buckled and tatty; the exposure to heat and wind taking its toll.
They flutter from the trees, and are too reminiscent of the far-reaching embers that travel before a bushfire.
Media: linocuts (orange background printed on an etching press, black leaves printed by hand, Japanese Hosho paper laminated to Somerset etching paper, holes punched with Japanese paper drill)