Ster Borgman is an artist whose practice is rooted in the exploration of natural processes and the transformative power of materials. Like an alchemist, Borgman creates pigments from plants and stones found during walks and experiments with oxides made from old metals. Through this work, Ster seeks to inspire a sense of wonder for non-human nature.

 

In the Glass Oven

In Ster Borgman’s glass oven, the alchemy of a forest fire is recreated. Plants from the Veluwe are sealed in glass and transformed by heat, leaving behind ghostly imprints of a landscape caught between destruction and renewal. If we look closely, these plants may teach us how to live in the heat of change.

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The Alchemy

The glass oven is a place where matter is broken down and remade. When Ster places plants inside, they are offered to the fire. Through transformation, their imprints remain — delicate traces of life turned to memory. The plants are not merely materials; they are witnesses. Each leaf and stem carries the memory of the land — its seasons, its struggles, its slow adaptation to a warming world.

 

The Veluwe, like many ecosystems, is changing. Fires that once came rarely now return often. Rising temperatures and droughts have turned forests into tinderboxes, where landscapes ignite with terrifying ease. Fire, once a natural force of renewal, now rages with unnatural frequency, leaving behind charred trunks and ash. And yet, life persists. The ash nourishes the soil. The seeds wait. The forest regrows.

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Transformation

Before us stands a wall of glass — each panel a window into a world undone. The plants, once alive, now exist in a liminal space: neither fully destroyed nor preserved, but suspended in the aftermath of catastrophe.

 

The beauty of these works should not distract from their message: we are living in a time of transition, where old ways of existing are no longer sustainable. The fires are coming, and they will leave their mark. But what follows is up to us.

 

When viewers stand before Borgman’s work, they may see a forest burning, the ash settling, and — most of all — the seeds waiting beneath the surface, ready to grow when the fire has passed. If we look closely, the plants may still teach us how to live in the heat of change.