Aliza Sternstein’s paintings play with layers and transparency. They’re filled with gestures and symbols in consideration of both the ephemeral and the preserved. These gestures are a reference to the landscapes she’s walked and lived within, while the symbols, hearts and flowers, are typically sentimental and used as cliched representations of beauty. Her paintings explore a curiosity in the energy that emerges when these serious moments are combined with joi de vivre motifs. Through these symbols of nature and spirituality, her work is a testament to survival, rooted in tradition yet always reaching forward. Embedded in Sterntein’s painting is a love for materials, an appreciation for craft and a curiosity for the new and unknown. The smooth, absorbent surfaces maintain a history of knocks, fingerprints, and wipeouts. Stencils are used to repeat shapes and block out spaces on the canvas. They connect one painting to the next, building a kaleidoscopic world that’s both familiar yet in flux.

Aliza Sternstein’s paintings play with layers and transparency. They’re filled with gestures and symbols in consideration of both the ephemeral and the preserved. These gestures are a reference to the landscapes she’s walked and lived within, while the symbols, hearts and flowers, are typically sentimental and used as cliched representations of beauty. Her paintings explore a curiosity in the energy that emerges when these serious moments are combined with joi de vivre motifs. Through these symbols of nature and spirituality, her work is a testament to survival, rooted in tradition yet always reaching forward. Embedded in Sterntein’s painting is a love for materials, an appreciation for craft and a curiosity for the new and unknown. The smooth, absorbent surfaces maintain a history of knocks, fingerprints, and wipeouts. Stencils are used to repeat shapes and block out spaces on the canvas. They connect one painting to the next, building a kaleidoscopic world that’s both familiar yet in flux.