Aloma Treister

450 Malvern Rd & 440 Malvern Rd
Prahran 3181
Victoria Australia
Tel +61 3 9510 2528 Annex: +61 3 9521 1107
Fax +61 3 9521 1033
Email Us

Aloma Treister works due in the gallery just before Christmas - call or email to enquire

Tree imagery tells of cycles of renewal and change. Using incense sticks Treister burns small holes into rice paper to generate her images. The process of burning the foliage can be best described as creation by destruction. The works radiate a primal energy, rooted in earth but yearning for heaven. Marked by past season's growth and decay - lush, arid, scorched, they reach out in patterns uniquely individual. Regeneration is ever imminent.

Treister starts off by using the basic structure of the trees, the life giving trunk and branches, and proceeds to burn the foliage. Her choice of incense sticks is significant. Incense is used for religious ceremonies and for meditation purposes. Using incense to ‘draw’ onto the rice paper is incredibly time-consuming. The process, however, is a contemplative one that allows her to consider her life and her surroundings. The incense also burns the rice paper, leaving charred edges around every shape; the effect is haunting and the charring provides the final image. The burning of the incense sticks creates emptiness where there was once substance. The holes in the paper allow one’s eye to see shadows while at the same time light is reflected back from the background it is mounted on.