I asked a friend, fellow artist Douglas Gordon, to join me for picnic at the graveside of Gertrude Stein in Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, neither aware of what we would talk about that day, but it didn’t matter, it was a simple moment between friends.

I asked Douglas to help me collect leaves that had fallen on Stein’s grave and surrounding area with no clear intention what I’d do with them other than to take them back to my home and create a fond memory of a moment.

As a leaf gently falls, largely unnoticed and unsure of where it will land, it transits to another place where it often feeds growth as likewise a conversation can do between both strangers and friends alike.

Prior to Douglas joining me I had silent conversations with many of those whose names were carved in stone before me, strangers I felt history had introduced me to that morning as friends. I spoke quietly and they responded in the rustling of leaves or birds singing.

I decided to suspend the leaves in a state suggesting a quiet moment and hopeful of the next conversation, not entombed but more so dancing as one.

This work contains 3 equal pieces, one which will be given to Douglas. I will retain one and one will be made available to a third party, most likely a stranger who can join our quiet conversation.