Wood Metamorphosis
H18"W17"L17"
Collaberation with Guillermo Thompson
The sculpture shows the process from wood to charcoal through a series of converging shapes. The unburned wood at the base represents the material in the raw. The emerging shapes from the base descending to the center represent the material’s various states as it’s burned.
This sculpture portrays the law of conservation of energy: nothing is created, nothing is destroyed, everything is transformed. Typically burning organic materials is associated with destruction, when in fact the charcoal byproduct is extremely beneficial when integrated with other soil minerals.
Our inspiration comes from Biochar. This innovative product is the result of burning organic material in a controlled environment which locks in CO2. Once this process is complete the CO2 rich Biochar can be used as an advanced fertilizer.
The transition from wood to charcoal is just one part of the whole cycle that this sculpture represents. The idea of this piece is not to be a static representations of raw materials but a depiction of the transition of the materials and the energy generated.
All materials used for this project were found or reclaimed.