Project 6. — Ava Xia Design

Ava X. Design

Media Study
Branching Within the Boundaries

Medium: 4.1 x 5.8 inchesx 21pages concertina, watercolor paper

Location: London,UK

2025

"If a branch grows crooked, it needs to be pruned.”

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The quote by my grandmother mirrors my earlier life, when the pain lingers, shaping who I became, as constant, intangible, and unquantifiable boundaries under my lens. Inspired by this theme, I propose an evocative practice: introducing found branches as drawing tools and primary techniques. This choice completes a corporeal loop, merging expression with the organic mechanics of growth and adaptation.

I see fallen branches—discarded by the trees they once belonged to—as fragments of myself, each carrying a sliver of my spirit. These branches, severed by the boundaries of necessity, are rich with memory. Their scars, textures, growth marks, and branching patterns whisper stories of resilience and change. Each branch is singular, a testament to its lived experience, embodying the duality of certainty and uncertainty.

As drawing tools, these branches become extensions of the self, their multi-tipped ends wielding intention and spontaneity. They hold the potential to transform raw expression into something both deliberate and unexpected—a living trace of the hand and the soul that guides them.