Did you see it in passing, possibly from or to Tate Britain or Millbank Tower? The tree with aluminium leaves? Chelsea’s Rootstein Hopkins parade ground recently saw one of it’s autumnal trees regaining leaves, reversing the natural phenomenon of leaves falling as winter takes its grip. The new leaves however were not green but instead silver! BA Fine Art student Omer Even Paz from Israel tells us a little more about himself and this magical project.

Describe your Chelsea experience in 3 words?

Free, Open & Self-Reflective.

What do you enjoy most about studying at Chelsea?

The workshops, which absolutely help you achieve every dream you have!

A Collation of real and artificial leaves Omer made including Steel, Aluminium and wood.

How are you enjoying living in London?

It’s amazing, inspiring and hard at times. Such a huge city and so diverse. There’s so much to see that it easy to feel that you’ll never know or do enough. Settling in takes time but it’s the beginning of an exciting journey.

Where do you live?

North east.

What’s your neighbourhood like?

Very quite and suburban. Everything closes by 8pm. There is something very nice about that actually. It allows me to stay much more focused then if I have lived in Brick Lane or another really busy neighbourhood.

What are your greatest achievements/awards/exhibitions?

The installation I made that shows here at Chelsea – Alu Tree:

The leaves kept falling here ever since I arrived to London. It is the theme of autumn of course but for me it’s my first European autumn. I tried to find ways to recreate or express those feelings I got since I came here but in a way that others could feel too. I made hundreds and thousands of metal foil leaves and attached them with rusted metal wire to the Oriental Plane Tree outside the college buildings on our parade ground. Unlike the real leaves my artificial leaves were too weak and ripped away with every passing gust of wind. It was a foreknown failure to the cold and breezy winter day. Soon enough my tree was bare like all his fellows in the street. But for those hours when the leaves where there, many of the people that passed under the metal shivering tree, stopped for a minute or two, and maybe took a leaf from the ground, possibly with wonderment.

What do you see yourself doing after your studies?

Practicing art, study history and literature and teaching in a high school.

And lastly, what would you say to anyone thinking of doing your course?

If you are thinking about practicing art and looking for a good place to explore yourself and your practice Chelsea is the place.