Ginkgo Biloba, Double Sided

When Chrystiane Charles sculpted her first Ginkgo floor lamp in 1990, she recognised in the tree a mirror of bronze itself: a form that comes before us, outlives us, persists. The ginkgo is the oldest tree species on Earth, before bees, flowers, dinosaurs, and its fan-shaped leaf has stayed almost unchanged for 270 million years. Three stems rise here from a round base and entwine, part and meet again in a slow, organic movement. At the end of each, two fans overlap: a large leaf in front, a smaller one behind, with the source slipping between them. The radiating veins are chased as close as possible to the detail of their texture. No shade: the light is born from between the two leaves, backlights the smaller one and spreads the gilt bronze on both sides.