"Homage to Nature" by Mineo Mizuno, 2024, carbonized California oak, steel, and ceramic

California-based Japanese American artist Mineo Mizuno’s site-specific sculpture, titled “Homage to Nature,” is crafted from fallen timber gathered in the forests of the Sierra Nevada, where the artist lives and works. Using yakisugi (shou sugi), a traditional Japanese method of wood preservation known in the West as burnt timber cladding, the charred surfaces of the reclaimed timber in the sculpture speak not only to fire’s destructive power but also to its ability to reinvigorate the land.

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