Ionel Mihai received the Bazis Project Space prize at Expo Marathon 2016 organized by the University of Arts and Design Cluj-Napoca.

The forest is a mysterious place in continuous transformation. Spring is bringing the most accentual change. The energy of the sun is transformed into material. The budding and the raw green color of the leaves are giving life to the forest. As the seasons change repeatedly, the forest is coming alive any time warm appears.
The higher temperature brings alive the sensitive buds in their shelters. The fragility of the branches is determined by their material. The resin, just like the wood, reacts to the heat, and its physical properties change. The higher the temperature, the softer the resin, similar to the branches in spring or summer. When the temperature becomes lower, the resin hardens, as the branches in wintertime. The red color of the resin emphasizes the presence of life in the woods.
The young artist, Ionel Mihai is using breaded hornbeam in his sculptures. The branches made of resin are filling the empty spaces between the plaits, as if they would be forced to come to light under the pressure of the plaits. The combination of these two elements - the verticality of the hornbeam and the manufactured resin branches - is highlighting even more the evident connection between humans and the forest.