Tendril-like glass forms sprout from a bronze cast of Kelly Akashi’s lower face, its surface transformed by fire. Following the sudden and devastating loss of her home and studio to the wildfires that raged across Los Angeles in January 2025, Akashi was determined to persist in making art. The artist personally recovered the bronze cast from the rubble of her destroyed studio, and Witness embodies this perseverance in the face of life’s impermanence. The recent fires consumed 14,000 acres of the California landscape, leaving a lasting mark on Los Angeles communities. Supplanting destruction for creation, Akashi applied a controlled flame to shape these glass elements. Their emergence from this work symbolizes the resilience of regenerative growth.