Wood carving, one of humanity’s oldest art forms, becomes a profound medium for exploring the tension between permanence and transience. Artists manipulate wood’s organic nature—its strength and eventual decay—to reflect on time’s duality.

Some carve intricate, enduring sculptures, polishing hardwood to a timeless sheen, symbolizing legacy and resilience. Others embrace wood’s impermanence, leaving pieces unfinished or exposed to erosion, mirroring life’s fragility. Techniques like hollowing or charring heighten this contrast, where solid forms reveal voids or scorched textures whisper of entropy.

Symbolism thrives in grain patterns—growth rings become metaphors for cyclical time, while cracks embody rupture. Contemporary artists even incorporate decaying elements, letting fungi or weathering "collaborate" in the work’s evolution.

Through wood’s tactile history, carvers ask: Can permanence exist without transience? Their chisels trace answers in the dialogue between what lasts and what fades.