Having grown up in a house designed by his grandfather Richard England, Damian Darmanin was definitely influenced by the renowned architect. However, contrary to Mr England’s works, his own artistic output is of a virtual nature.

Mr Darmanin, who studied industrial design in Florence, utilises architectural components from existing elements to create ‘collages’.

“I feel this urge to create something different… I select fragments of existing buildings, then assemble them and glue them to create new and virtual entities. The real is translated to the unreal. And the end result is much more than the sum of the parts,” he says.

A good number of these collages – 30 framed artworks, five massive panels and 50 others on screen − are currently on display at Spazju Kreattiv in Valletta.

Entitled The Kolaz – Ktiro Collection/Buildings in Time, the exhibition presents a worldwide expression of solidarity, unity, diversity and culture and portrays the artist’s continuous exploration of globalisation, religion and creativity.

“Many collages utilise sacred buildings of different beliefs, coming together to unite different faiths. The choice of using building fragments from different countries represent a form of globalisation. And all of this is brought about through a process of creativity,” he notes.

Most of the components are glued on top of each other to create vertical structures of vertiginous heights. Mr Darmanin explains: “Man has always aspired to the heavens.

“My compositions look up-wards as symbols of optimistic hope and faith.”

Among the foreign-inspired works is a Las Vegas collage, which in the artist’s view, is meant to show that one can still create compositions of artistic value from “theprofanity of the mundane”.

On the other hand, the Statue of Liberty in his prints represents the artist’s freedom from the materialistic real world.

The Kolaz – Ktiro Collection/Buildings in Time wraps up on January 5 but the artworks are to be captured in a book.

Mr Darmanin is also working on another series on a completely different theme, details of which will be divulged in due course.