Cole Lu: The Wounded Storyteller Interview by Anna Hugo Photos by Evelyn Freja In August, Cole and Anna Hugo met in his studio in Bushwick, New York to get to know each other and think out loud about the act of burning wood, the necessity of solitude, and processing trauma. Cole’s practice purposefully opens many chapters by fusing historical and literary references with autobiographical segments. Through his act of storytelling: offering words, meanings and boundaries he "practices narrating life as it suits him" a sentence taken from one of the titles in his current exhibition "Millennium Approaches" at NIR ALTMAN. With each exhibition, an unfolding occurs on its own accord while still being intricately bound to a greater web of narratives. Anna: I will start with a simple question, why fire? Cole: Fire resembles transition, transformation, and regeneration. Fire is also a form of cleansing and purification, a distilling process. Material fire is what I use to make work, and "pyrography" is the term to describe the technique, commonly known as wood burning (despite the fact that its applications are not limited to wood); the term originates from Greek, meaning "writing with fire." [...] Link in bio 🧯 @colelu @annahugo__ @evelynfreja @nir.altman #pwmagazine #pwmag #colelu #evelynfreja #niraltman