Part of the series with the same name, Alchemizing the Damage is a work by Cecília Costa that explores her fear of the irreversible. Themes such as death, trauma, memory, and entropy are central to the piece.

Cecília uses a chair that was originally made of wood and now appears in charcoal. This material is a recurring element in her artistic practice. The transformation was achieved using the Japanese technique Shou Sugi Ban, a poetic contradiction where wood is burned in order to preserve it. Fire, often seen as a symbol of destruction, is used here to maintain the form and structure.

Chairs suggest presence. Someone once sat there. Someone might return. But this chair no longer serves its original purpose. It has become a symbol, almost a sentient presence. Leaning against the wall, it creates a spatial line of continuity with its own structure. This suggests agency, as if the chair has ceased to be a passive object. As if it has endured pain and undergone a process.

The installation does not embrace nihilism. It stages a cathartic healing. Destruction becomes a ritual of preservation. Trauma becomes a form of action. The chair bears witness to its own metamorphosis and invites the viewer to confront their own fears of what cannot be undone.

Jamil Ramos
September 2025