Artist Statement

Living on the beautiful escarpment near Wollongong on the south-eastern coast of Australia, Alena is surrounded by the colours, textures and patterns of the natural world. She describes her fascination through painting.

Alena’s current work is the journey Series, starting as a body of work which she exhibited in her solo exhibition: journey and the space between in May, 2011. This follows several trips which she and her husband Oliver made during recent years, including a 7 months journey around mainland Australia in 2009. Alena found that she was fascinated as much by ‘ordinary’ features that reside in the great ‘space between’, as by the dramatic and wonderful oases, canyons and monoliths of the land. Focusing on common-place aspects of nature, she conveys a sense of their presence and of her connectedness with all life. Her observation of the ‘small’ also provides her with glimpses into larger patterns and processes of the cosmos.

Alena has exhibited in galleries in the Wollongong area, Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra. She has won several awards and prizes for her art and her studies. Her work is held in private collections around Australia and internationally.

In 2010, Alena co-founded IAVA (Illawarra Association for the Visual Arts) with a group of artist friends. This organisation is set up to cultivate and promote Illawarra’s contemporary artists and their work.

Alena’s personal insights and her observations of nature have been translated into luminous, layered paintings which contain depths of meaning and display a fresh and original aesthetic beauty. Her practice has been contributed to by experiences such as travel around Australia and the world; a fulfilling life with her family; artistic community involvement; over 10 years producing and exhibiting art and the completion of a Bachelor of Creative Arts degree (Painting, with Distinction) at the University of Wollongong.