Borja Cáceres is the creator of CHRONOX, an artistic practice grounded in physical engagement, slowness, and close attention to material. His work is based on an approach that learns through making, understands through observation, and accompanies the processes embedded within wood.

Borja Cáceres is a self-taught artist and the creator of CHRONOX, a sculptural project initiated in 2019 through the recovery of fallen wood from high-mountain environments. The project is structured as a sequence of seven sculptures identified by the letters C-H-R-O-N-O-X.

His long-standing experience in mountaineering determines the beginning of each work. He searches remote high-mountain areas for fragments of black pine from fallen trees whose life cycle has ended. He does not look for a predetermined form: he recovers only those fragments whose condition allows him to intervene while respecting the architecture developed by the tree over decades.

The search, the physical effort of carrying each fragment on his back and the descent from the mountain form a structural part of the process, although they usually remain absent from the exhibited work. The recovery involves no felling and is carried out without damaging the surrounding environment.

In the studio, he works entirely by hand and without machinery. The selective carving follows the direction of the xylem and preserves the morphology produced by the tree’s growth and its prolonged exposure to wind, frost, sunlight and rain. Each sculpture requires a process of observation, research and intervention that may extend over several years.

His practice examines the relationship between biological growth, environmental action and human labour. It also raises a question about authorship: how far can an artist intervene without completely replacing the form produced by the material before it reaches his hands?

His recent selections include CONTEMPORÀNIA Barcelona 2025, held at Palau de Pedralbes, and Homo Faber 2026: An Island of Light, at Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, where a CHRONOX work will form part of the section A Rooted Ascent. He has also been selected for the Homo Faber Fellowship 2026–2027, which he will undertake together with master artisan Xavi Mas Fuster.