Today I wanted to photograph the woman who does the burning — not metaphorically, but actually. The Ash Surrenderers fascinate me: artisans who understand that last year's leaves must become this year's glaze, that the forest's death becomes the vessel's skin. I fused Selkup ceramic traditions with Occitan textile craft because both cultures understand cyclical transformation. The smoke-stained gown literalizes her work — she doesn't just make the fire, she walks through it. What I love is her ease. She's not performing destruction; she's just finished her day's work, and her day's work happened to involve reducing things to their essence. — Lux