A Closer Look: Unfolding

Unfolding presents celery stalks as architectural forms, evoking classical columns, where the stillness of the stalks contrasts with the dynamic movement of the leaves, revealing a dialogue between structure and vitality.

This series continues Tanya Maifat’s exploration of vegetal forms not as decorative still life, but as monumental presences — objects with gravity and gesture. Each work begins not with symbolism, but with attention: prolonged, meditative observation, where form begins to speak before meaning is assigned. What emerges through this process is not food, but character — volume, tension, and composure made visible through scale and framing.

Maifat draws with colored pencils on paper, building presence line by line without constructing from below. Edits, shifts, and hesitations remain visible in the final image, honoring the act of discovery over control. In this way, Unfolding offers a kind of reverse archaeology — excavating quiet life from what we’re taught to overlook.