My leaf chalice is by far the most materially experimental of my thesis works. I began it by raising a brass vessel, planishing it, then fusing waxed poplar leaves to the exterior. I then cast the leaves, trapping the vessel in place. The sprue and button became the stem and foot of the cup, leaving direct evidence of the method of production. 

The leaves, collected on my morning walks from my apartment to the school building, harken back to the leaf litter at the woods near my home, where I first observed rotting vegetation becoming soil. This is where the cup is buried.