PART 2 – ORANGE ETHEREALS: FIRE AND EARTH, 2025-26
Materials: silk paint, soft pastel, acrylic, oil on silk
Ethereals examines states of impermanence, suspension, and transformation through abstracted forms and atmospheric compositions. The series reflects on the liminal nature of experience, where materiality dissolves into sensation and memory.
Primarily realized through painting, Ethereals is often presented in rhythmic groupings that emphasize continuity and subtle variation. The works create a quiet spatial dialogue, privileging perception and duration over narrative.
This body of work represents an important transitional phase, laying the conceptual and visual groundwork for di Masternak’s later expansion into fully immersive installation environments.
Orange Ethereals continue the series, grounding the narrative in the elements of fire and earth. Where the blue figures lifted the story into the skies and spirit, the orange figures bring it back to the soil, to the tangible, living world. Emerging from earth alive with roots, blossoms, and flames, these figures inhabit a field where fire rises—both destructive and regenerative—while the earth beneath steadies and nourishes all that grows. Each element is inseparable from the other, forming a symbiotic cycle of survival, growth, and renewal.
Fire symbolizes transformation: burning away what no longer serves, igniting passion, spiritual awakening, and renewal. Earth represents grounding, memory, and the cycles of birth and return. Together, they reflect the ecological urgency of our times, acknowledging that humans are inseparable from the natural forces around us. This series responds to the reality of wildfires, environmental instability, and the fragile balance of life.
The orange hue carries rich symbolic meaning: vitality, courage, creativity, and sacred devotion. Across traditions, orange evokes the life force, the warmth of the sun, and the glow of transformation. In this work, it becomes the skin of survival and a visual affirmation of resilience—a counterbalance to the reflective, serene water of the blue Ethereals.
If blue spoke of memory, peace, and the infinite, orange speaks of survival, transformation, and embodied vitality. This chapter of the series calls viewers back to the body, the ground, and the breath that ties us to life itself. Through this evolving color language, the Ethereals continue to explore elemental forces, inviting reflection on healing, interconnection, and the ecological realities that surround us.
PART 1- BLUE ETHEREALS