Openeye Last Leaves - Tom Vack

Last Leaves is a series inspired by the artist’s remembrances portrayed in O. Henry’s “Full House” (1952), a film he viewed in his youth. These leaves that have fallen onto the streets of Milan, are like us, individuals living in a collective. Each one has their personality and body language, their way of falling or leaving after their life function has passed and their blazing last colours have drained them of their life force. This artistic research has branched into three themes. In Pure the leaves have been portrayed in their most bare essentials as individual protagonists of a community. Ensemble demonstrates the rapport between the individual soloists and their amalgam into a collective opus with Baroque overtones. In Tattoos the leaves are a screen to project diverse images upon that investigates the cultural messages, both remembered or superimposed on the individual, with references to the symbols and tropes of popular culture.