Quick Hits: Jennifer Weihmann

The works of Calgary-based Jennifer Weihmann are often mistaken for paintings, with their lush textures and subtle colours. But the emerging artist’s extreme close-ups are photographs, of decomposing leaves, mushrooms, and petals.

Weihmann’s images of poplar leaves are on exhibition at the Christine Klassen Gallery in Calgary through Aug. 17.

Her process, from choosing the leaves to photographing their remains, is one-of-a-kind.

“I soaked freshly plucked leaves from poplar and aspen trees in order to rot away the body of the leaf,” she says. “This lengthy and smelly process took months before the fleshy pieces of the leaf decomposed and detached from the skeletal structure. I removed all the flesh from a few leaves, but made a decision to keep a few scarred remnants of flesh on others, as each leaf developed personal characteristics to me, and each had a story to tell that seemed worth preserving.”

Originally from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Jennifer Weihmann completed a Visual Arts Diploma from Grande Prairie Regional College prior to obtaining a Bachelor of Arts in Communications, Visual Studies and Art History from the University of Calgary.

Jennifer Weihmann’s website, here.

Christine Klassen Gallery, here.