Morgun Oh
Passage, fifth work in the Time of Wood seriesDevelopment sketch for Passage

2025—Ongoing · Lighting series

Time of Wood

Where Time Becomes Light

Time of Wood
2025—Ongoing

An ongoing body of research connecting wood, material traces, light, and time.

The five individual works form the current chapter. Passage is a threshold, not a conclusion: the series continues through future ideas in a cycle of growth and renewal.

Material & Time

Stress → Injury → Resin → Growth → Resilience

Rings, cracks, knots, and resin become memories of the tree, preserved and brought to light.

The resin is naturally formed by pine in response to stress and injury. Nothing synthetic is added. Resin-rich areas are preserved as part of the material; light reveals the traces the wood quietly holds within.

Material / Process

How the Wood Becomes Light

Resin-rich sections already present inside the pine are preserved during making, so its wounds, stress marks, and inner traces stay visible when light passes through.

Comic showing how naturally resin-rich pine is preserved and brought to light

01

Seed

Tane

Represents the beginning: the seed, the origin, and the potential held within a material before it begins to grow.

Beginning / Possibility

Everything begins with a possibility.

Seed, finished lighting workSeed, development sketch
Seed, conceptual drawing

02

Pulse

Kodo

The pulse and rhythm of life, connecting the inner rhythm of the body with the subtle movement found within wood.

Awakening / Life

A quiet pulse awakens what was waiting to grow.

Pulse, finished lighting work
Pulse, conceptual drawingPulse, development sketch

03

Growth

Hats

Growth and the accumulation of time — how a tree records its environment through its rings, structure, and changes in material.

Time / Expansion

With time, every moment leaves a trace.

Growth, development sketchGrowth, finished lighting workGrowth, conceptual drawing

04

Rift

Seicho

Growth through tension, separation, and transformation. Cracks are not defects, but traces of pressure, survival, and change.

Stress / Wound / Resilience

Even a wound can become a trace of resilience.

Rift, finished lighting workRift, conceptual drawing
Rift, development sketch

05

Passage

Mon

A passage, opening, or threshold — connecting the works and moving from one state to another, from darkness toward light.

Transition / Threshold

We carry our traces with us as we move forward.

Passage, conceptual drawingPassage, finished lighting work
Passage, development sketch

Visual study · Finished object & detail

01 — Seed

Seed

Everything begins with a possibility.

SEED represents the beginning of the cycle — a moment of possibility before growth begins. The form reflects the quiet potential held within the material.

SEED, glowing resin panels of the finished lamp in darknessSEED detail — joinery and glowing resin panel of the wooden lamp
SEED detail — warm light tracing the wooden edge in darkness

Material texture, wood grain, and the traces of light held within — observed slowly, in darkness.

Visual study · Finished object & detail

02 — Pulse

Pulse

A quiet pulse awakens what was waiting to grow.

PULSE represents the awakening of life — the first movement after stillness. Like a first heartbeat or a sprout beginning to emerge, the lamp expresses the moment when something begins to come alive.

PULSE, glowing end-grain circle of the finished lamp in a dark roomPULSE casting a warm red glow across a reaching hand in darkness
PULSE in daylight — carved end-grain circle within its darkened wooden framePULSE detail — wooden face with carved center panel and braided cord

Grain, frame, and glow — the same surface by day and in darkness.

Visual study · Structure, material & light

03 — Growth

Growth

With time, every moment leaves a trace.

GROWTH represents the passage of time and the gradual accumulation of experience. The lamp reveals the growth rings and natural patterns within the wood, allowing time to become visible through material, structure, and light.

GROWTH lamp illuminated in its complete installation
GROWTH lamp structure during constructionGROWTH translucent screen revealing its layered natural fibres
Interior view through the GROWTH lamp showing growth-ring panels and latticeGROWTH panel showing end-grain patterns and dark structural frameClose view of the GROWTH lamp corner joinery

Growth rings, woven structure, and precise joints accumulate into a vessel for light.

Visual study · Wound, resin & resilience

04 — Rift

Rift

Even a wound can become a trace of resilience.

RIFT explores the traces left by stress, damage, and time within wood. Cracks and resin become records of the tree's experience, transforming what appears to be a wound into a visible expression of resilience.

RIFT lamp glowing in darkness — resin panels radiating warm red light above a carved wooden columnRIFT detail — warm light passing through the wooden lattice above a carved column joint
RIFT detail — glowing band of red resin panels held within the dark wooden frameRIFT seen through a dark opening — resin panels glowing deep red within the room

Discovered slowly, from across a darkened room.

RIFT detail — light escaping through the cracks of the wooden structure in darknessRIFT detail — interlocking oak and pine joinery holding the structure togetherRIFT detail — dark spheres resting within the raw wooden frame
RIFT detail — carved column capital meeting the lattice by daylight

Cracks, resin, and precise joints — the wound held, and the tree continued to grow.

Visual study · Threshold, movement & construction

05 — Passage

Passage

We carry our traces with us as we move forward.

PASSAGE represents transition — the moment of moving from one state to another. Inspired by the structure of a gate, the work creates a threshold between spaces, inviting the viewer to pause, enter, and continue.

It follows the traces accumulated throughout Time of Wood: growth, stress, cracks, resin, and resilience. The wood carries its own history, while the act of passing through becomes a reflection of our own journey.

PASSAGE lamp in full — an illuminated red threshold facing its pale timber structure
PASSAGE viewed upward through its illuminated square latticePASSAGE corner where the dark frame meets glowing end-grain panels
PASSAGE detail — illuminated threshold plane meeting the timber gridPASSAGE detail — a dark vertical edge dividing two glowing wood surfacesPASSAGE glowing end-grain panel held within a precise dark frame
PASSAGE detail — a charred stepped beam extending toward the pale timber assembly

From illuminated surface to structural connection, the eye moves through the threshold.

PASSAGE timber components arranged before assemblyPASSAGE construction study — interlocking pale blocks gathered around charred timber
PASSAGE joinery detail — dark wooden peg locking into pale timberPASSAGE joinery detail — stacked timber blocks revealing end grain and joint geometryPASSAGE material detail — stepped charred pieces against warm natural wood
PASSAGE construction detail — charred stepped element entering the timber grid

Light, char, grain, and interlocking joints carry the material's traces forward.

A pause

This is one point in an ongoing practice.

Here, this body of work comes to rest — not an ending, only a pause. The practice continues beyond it.

Other questions, materials, and forms are already quietly taking shape.

What comes next remains open.

It will be okay.