LC0366

A composition about smoke caught and frozen. Inside every tube the finest fibrous texture is visible — arrested streams, like a feather in the body of ice. The texture is the protagonist here: it exists inside, it cannot be touched, only seen.

The field is gathered into a wave with a sagging centre — a stand of reeds in the wind. Every tube is caught by a gold collar.

By day, switched off, the composition remains a collection of clear rods with a silver drawing inside — a piece to be examined close up. In the evening light enters through the collar and runs down the fibres all the way to the end: the streams flare and turn into glowing threads. Smoke that has caught fire.

Where it works

In the compact version, four or five tubes above a table; at scale, hundreds of rods covering the whole ceiling of a stairwell. The texture is visible close up, so the composition is not hung higher than it needs to be.

Style

Natural minimalism and Japanese aesthetics: a drawing inside the substance instead of decor on the outside. The message is contemplative — a piece you look into.