'Ember 2' depicts a landscape caught between destruction and renewal. Figures move through an environment transformed by an intense, almost elemental fire, where bodies, earth, light, and atmosphere begin to dissolve into one another. The contrast between the dark, cool landscape and the incandescent center creates a sense of tension and transformation.

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The fire becomes more than an agent of destruction: it suggests what remains alive after devastation—a persistent source of heat, light, and possibility.

Lorella Paleni is an Italian-born artist living and working in Paris. Through painting, drawing, monotype, and animation, she investigates the intersections between women, animals, and the natural world. Her work explores experiences of embodiment, vulnerability, transformation, and the ways female and non-human subjects have been historically marginalized or rendered invisible. She received an MFA in Visual Arts from Columbia University and a BFA in Painting from the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia. Paleni has exhibited internationally in Europe and the United States and has participated in residencies including AZ West, the Indo-European Residency Project, and the Wassaic Project. She was awarded the 2024 Homiens Art Prize.