JOYCE CAMILLERI
MARCH 31 - APRIL 2 // HOME // MALTA, EUROPE
Born in Canada in 1980, but lived most of her childhood and adult life in her parents’ country of origin, Malta. After completing her first degree in art teaching at the University of Malta, she felt the need to further her studies in the field of art and started attending an artistic printmaking diploma course at the Malta School of Art under the tuition of Mr Anton Grech and the M. ED Artist Teacher at UWS. Meanwhile she also pursued further training at the International Summer Academy of Fine Arts in Salzburg, through masterclass workshops with German artist Michael Morgner and most recently with Austrian artist Tobias Pils.
Her work attempts to explore drawing and printmaking as distinct, nonetheless symbiotic art practices that both retain essentially graphical elements. Alongside, such artistic research enables her to constantly nourish and revisit my pedagogical approaches to art theory and practice
joycamilleri.wordpress.com
During this shelter residency I intended to continue exploring an idea that I had started working on during a workshop in summer 2019. I had selected a particular colour scheme of ochres and blacks and created semi-abstract compositions through a mixed media approach that involved drawing, printmaking and collage techniques. In the absence of the model my works were inspired from the surroundings of the Hohensalzburg Fortress.
During this shelter residency I could draw inspiration from my vast repertoire of life drawings done over the past years. Undeniably human forms are my main source of inspiration, however this residency allowed me to bring about the more spiritual rather than physical presence of the model.
Whilst I planned to complete the residency in three days, I had to extend it over a period of a week, since I needed to allow time for the printing ink to dry before developing my work further and I also needed to go through a selective process of life drawings that suited my theme and the paper formats I had. Nonetheless this residency surely provided me with a clear purpose to conduct studio research, revisit my past artistic practice and rethink it in an alternative context, thus giving it a new meaning.
It was also interesting to use different techniques that complemented each other in such a natural manner, as print, drawing, painting and collage fused into one or more artworks. Such an immersive studio practice allowed me to understand the artistic process as a form of self-directed but undetermined research. As an artist I must be able to allow my work to guide me; to find myself in my artwork by allowing it to show me the way, regardless of any predetermined methodologies or predicted results.
I definitely reconfirmed the strong graphical element inherent in my work, which I also managed to enhance through a more atmospheric approach that veiled these artworks with an sense of mystery; these artworks are not just figure drawings but spiritual narratives of one’s soul.
