Wendy Kowynia: Burn Series: Mono No Aware

Wendy Kowynia: Burn Series: Mono No Aware
On view: November 7, 2025–January 3, 2026
Opening reception: Friday, November 7, 5:00-8:00 pm

Artist Wendy Kowynia’s new solo show features artworks inspired by burn areas in the Zirkel Wilderness.

“In 2024 I began a new series of works entitled Burn, inspired by an area of the Zirkel Wilderness that burned over twenty years ago. I have hiked through the area many times, always on my way to somewhere else – the top of the divide, the end of the trail. The area always called to me, but I never stopped to heed that call; to contemplate or respond to what I was seeing.

Last summer I finally left the trail and began wandering through the burn area. I was struck by its beauty and resilience. Twenty years in, I see charred trees who’s perfectly preserved charcoal surface still shines. I see areas of deadfall, timbers piled like toothpicks. I see pioneer plant species slowly moving in.

What is the allure of this area? Why does it haunt me?

MONO NO AWARE
The concept of mono no aware perhaps sums it up best. It Is a Japanese term meaning ‘beautiful but fleeting’. An understanding that everything is impermanent and changing…even a landscape decimated by fire. There is great sorrow in a burn area. Great destruction. Yet also great beauty. Not just endings but beginnings. New cycles of growth fed by the transformative power of fire. Birth, life and decay coexist. Even in the face of devastation, change happens. “