SEVEN trees are implanted in a stone. The twigs are made of wire while the tiny leaves are of copper and brass. Indeed, the trees are never green at all. The only thing that this work strongly suggests is dryness.

Thirty-eight-year-old Ali Umar, the wood sculptor with his piece called Pohon di Atas Batu (Tree on a Stone) has indeed successfully conveyed the notion of being bone-dry. He is not, however, an artist that is obedient to his own succe