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Thermal Alchemy / 丹化
Thermal Alchemy / 丹化
2025
Dimensions: Site specific. Multiple frames of L600 x W280 x D20mm
Material: Ash, Pyrolysed wood
This series grew out of two parallel material explorations: making charcoal from selected wood species and steam-bending wood into curves. Both use heat, but the two techniques yield very different results. Fire reduces wood into fragility, while steam softens it into flexibility and resilience.
I wanted to merge these two materials together, not just by simply attaching them, but through structure and joinery. Using 20 x 20mm ash, I built frames of 28 x 60cm, held together without glue or fasteners. The series begins with pyrolysed wood set into the frames, each creating its own set of interactions. Steam-bent elements were introduced later and this began to distort the frames themselves.
What began as controlled, uniform rectangles gradually evolved into unique forms, each one shaped by the tension between straight lines, bent curves and the fragile charcoal pieces. Across the ten pieces, Thermal Alchemy explores how wood responds to heat in opposing ways, and how structure adapts when materials assert their own character.
Continuing from the Carbon Dating series, I experimented with the pyrolysis of 23 different wood species, each yielding unique results. From these, I selected three species: maple, beech, and ash for further exploration.
Concurrently, I began experimenting with steam bending. While I had studied the technique in theory, this was my first hands-on opportunity to apply it. The project became an investigation of transformation, comparing the destructive process of pyrolysis with the malleable manipulation of steam bending, and exploring how these divergent processes could dialogue through material, form, and structure.
Both techniques altered the shape of the wood through heat, one through fire and the other through steam. Merging of the two required careful consideration because the charcoal pieces are extremely fragile. Using the form of a long vertical frame as a starting point, I approach each construction with joinery as my language. I began with the charcoal, questioning its relationship with the rest of the frame. Must all four sides connect? Could I use selective connections, allowing gaps and tensions to guide the composition?
Upon introducing the steam-bent pieces, the form began to change more drastically. The two components seemed to enter a dance of tension and cohesion, some elements moving towards each other, other pulling away.
The final piece in this series has been given a personality. It is a frame that is tired of being upright and taking a break, now resting on the floor, allowing the tension between the charcoal and steam-bent wood settle into a quiet pause, as if the materials themselves are catching a breath.
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