"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."