Burn on Fire

Burn on Fire revisits a formative childhood memory in which Alia Simetra, while playing with matches alongside his brother, accidentally set fire to his grandfather’s barn, nearly allowing the flames to reach the wooden shelter that housed the family’s animals.

This was the first time the artist witnessed his grandfather’s anger and discovered an unfamiliar side of someone he had always known differently. That transformation is captured through the portrait incorporated into the work: from one viewing angle, his grandfather appears calm and familiar; from another, an angry version emerges.

Constructed from recycled wooden pallets, the charred surface carries the physical and emotional intensity of the event.