The Unclouded Perspective
Anna Pinder, Monroe College
Pyrography, commonly referred to as woodburning, is the art of decorating wood or other materials with burn marks resulted from the controlled application of a heated object such as a poker. This piece was inspired by a Japanese film titled “Princess Mononoke”, directed by the famous Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. Early within the film, we are introduced to Ashitaka, a young prince of a small village who becomes cursed by a demon boar when protecting his village. The village elders then tell him that he needs to go west in the direction the boar came from to seek for a cure. The quote seen in the piece, “to see with eyes unclouded by hate”, is a phrase articulated by Ashitaka; and through his quest for a cure, he aims to fix the bond between humans, nature, and the gods of the forest. Commonly relating to the world we live in, the world in this movie is in an “age of disruption”, and Ashitaka is “creating and restoring community”, and ultimately creating “a more perfect union”.