Desmond Leung’s Tree Of Life series is a triptych that depicts the journey of the never-ending evolution and creation of life from the beginning of time. The works are presented as three video pieces, Tree Of Life 1, 2 and 3 that aim to portray an ancient universal view through unique moving image pieces that combine traditional ink painting with modern lens-based media.
In the works, paint swirls slowly around the canvas as drops and brushstrokes are added – creating flowing lines and textures that begin to take on a life of their own. A glowing yellow light shines behind the swirling ink patterns and bubbles that emerge, resembling the life force behind the moving painting.
Tree Of Life is a comment on the essence of life and the universe. For Leung, “All life is made of particles and atoms, and particles all consist of energy. This vibration of energy will never die – it creates a sense of the evolutionary as seen in the Tree of Life.” Leung is inspired by the Big Bang, which was the first supernova explosion that created the universe and brought life. Tree of Life is a poetic expression of the energy vibrating from the shock wave that has become the landscape of interstellar clouds of dust in the expanding universe.
