Traditional Chinese Leaf Carving Traditional Chinese artists carve incredibly intricate images into leaves from the Chinar tree, which is native to India, Pakistan, and China. The painstaking process involves removing the outer layers of the dried leaf with a knife (which can take months) while carefully keeping the veins intact.

Lorenzo Duran’s Intricate Leaf Art

Spanish artist Lorenzo Duran cuts away at leaves with surgical precision to create detailed landscapes, intricate symbols, and a variety of other images. Duran was inspired after seeing a caterpillar chomping away at a leaf, and it prompted him to adopt the leaf as his medium of choice. One of Duran’s recent commissions if for Leagas Delaney’s “Plant for the Planet” project, which showcases the leaf’s ability to absorb CO2.

Owen Mortensen’s Organic Leaf Art

Few artists have the ability to transform an organic object into something as elegant and chic as Owen Mortensen. In his S3 series (which stands for stands for Selectively Skeletonized Sycamores), Mortensen reimagines leaf collecting by stripping away narrow bands of each leaf and lining them up to form a square.

Sylvian Meyer’s Swirling Leaf Patterns

French artist Sylvain Meyer produces environmental art that transforms organic materials like sticks, stones and leaves into swirling patterns and shapes. Using objects found on the forest floor, she produces elaborate installations that draw our attention to the beauty of the natural world. And because she isn’t introducing any foreign elements into the landscape, here pieces are completely non-invasive.