In the play of warm light and charred wood, in the tight corners of a table lamp and the fine finishes of a wall sconce, yakisugi moved from a practical, fire-suppression technique for mass structures to something elegant and intimate—where the glow of a bulb is amplified even more by the black char that encloses it.
The delicate act of charring an architectural wood light fixture brought us into close proximity with the charring process and the charring finish. In that intimacy between fire, wood, char and the ultimate glow of a lamp, yakisugi took on a deeper dimension for us when we uncovered its philosophical roots.
The refining fire
Yakisugi is a practice grounded in the Japanese philosophy of wabi-sabi, an appreciation of beauty that is “imperfect, impermanent and incomplete.” It is a conception of beauty that stands in contrast to the idea that beauty is in the pristine, the flawless, the perfect.
As yakisugi wood ages and its patina changes from dark black to flecked grey, its beauty takes on a new direction; the passage of time doesn’t lead to deterioration or the loss of beauty, but the emergence of its hidden forms.
It also embodies the metaphor of a refining crucible—a reminder that intense heat and pressure can be the catalyst for our own renewals, burning away the dross.
“...For he is like a refiner’s fire and like fullers’ soap. He will sit as a refiner and purifier…” - the prophet Malachi, third chapter, second and third verses.
A legacy of persistent refinement
In any ancient woodworking tradition, there are the purists who insist on their one true way. Yakisugi is no different. The traditional technique is to bind three cedar boards together into a vertical column, with a fire in the middle that burns the interior sides of each board into a uniform char (about 7-10 minutes).
But such traditions are ill-suited for small architectural light fixtures. To create a uniform char up to the task of producing a unique “focal glow” in outdoor spaces or producing a “play of brilliants” in moody, indoor settings, we used a small gas torch to char already completed fixtures.
As we continue to refine our technique, we’re learning that mastery of yakisugi is less about approaching perfection or rigidly adhering to ancient methods. Instead, like so much in wood-based craftsmanship, it is to embrace an imperfect process, commit to the practice of persistent refinement and play a small role in carrying forward the traditions of those who came before us.
