At some point, painting fire wasn't enough. I needed to build a fire I could actually walk around, something that could step out of the frame and exist in the same reality as me. So, I started making these sculptures.

These fires are everything a real fire isn't. They’re solid, still, and cold. They don't burn, they don't spread, and they don't give off a single flicker of light. They’re completely harmless. I find it ironic, taking a force that’s meant to destroy and turning it into something you can reach out and touch.

I made these pieces to be centerpieces and wall pieces, things people could gather around, almost like a performance. Placing them in a gallery is intentional; a place where you'd never be allowed to light a fire, and seeing what happens when people stand in a circle around a fake one.

It’s been interesting to watch. Without the threat of being burned, the fire becomes a conversation. People stand around it and talk about their own memories, their fears, the songs they'd sing, and what fire means to them personally. By taking away everything a fire is, we can finally just stand near it and process it together once again, in a totally fake context.