Phases (Melaleuca Cajuputi)

2024
ALGORITHMIC DRAWINGS, CHARCOAL INK ON ORGANIC PAPER

The gelam tree was once an essential part of the daily lives of the inhabitants of Kampong Gelam—from firewood to boat-making to medicine.

This holistic use of the tree is reproduced by Isabella Ong in her material transformation and preservation of the tree. The paper is made from the bark of the tree, the ink from the branches, twigs, seeds and fruits.

The series of algorithmic drawings depict the gelam tree in different phases, from sapling to maturity. The L-system, as a mathematical language, describes the morphology or “the fractal imagination” of the gelam tree.

Axiom = "X"

X -> F[-X]F[+X][-X] (0.2)
X -> F[+X]F[-X][+XL] (0.8)

F -> FF

I -> F[+L]

L -> [+F-L][-F+L]I (0.3)
L -> F[++F-L][--F+L] (0.7)