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The delicate symmetry of Geraldine Javier's creations have been a hallmark of her impressive artistic career over the past decade. Although generally known for her monumental canvases, Javier's smaller-scale works are a crucial part of her painting oeuvre as they allow the artist to dissemble her thoughts and construct micro-universes filled with the myriad wonders of her inner world. Indeed recent exhibitions by Javier since 2010 such as Museum of Many Things in 2011 and Curiosities at the Vargas Museum in 2013 have revealed her preference to engage with objects through intimate proximity, where the artist personally lays on hands to bring forth beautifully crafted works, lovingly draped in Javier's own embroidery tatting, or installed into vitrines.
The intimacy of Leaf (Lot 536) brings to mind a jeweled Faberge egg, the innermost Russian doll in Javier's series of nature-based works. Consisting of a matched pair: a painted canvas depicting fragile whorls of white flowers and an embroidery of a bird, Leaf possesses an elusive magical quality and subtle fragrance. Its quietly haunting nature seems as though the viewer is glimpsing a shadowy corner of Javier's innermost mind, where beautiful blooms quietly unfurl even under the cover of night.