The wonders of burnt wood

Piraji Sagara’s work is testimony to his deep understanding of wood and ability to turn a mundane material into something visually arresting. The burnt surface adds an earthy roughness to the work while the carved marks and uneven textures add a strong sense of depth. The shapes cut into the wood are not any one recognisable image and the viewer is left to interpret them in many ways. Some of the forms may look like living organisms, remnants of ancient writing or patterns found in nature. The darker brown of the burnt wood is a nice contrast to the patches of red, yellow, blue and black that can be seen through small openings in the surface. The bright areas make the carved areas almost seem to open into another layer below the surface. It is important to understand Sagara’s background in traditional wood carving to understand the work, as carving, burning and assembling wood are central to the way he created his reliefs. In contrast, the abstract forms give the work a more contemporary character. There is a tension between the natural qualities of the wood and the intentional marks of the artist. Sagara does not completely reinvent the material but lets its grain, colour and texture come through. The work can thus be read as a dialogue between the artist, the material and the natural world, while leaving enough ambiguity for each viewer to find their own meaning.