Paul is an artist who is fascinated by colour. His most typical works are his vivid abstract paintings, paintings with a vibrant palette of bright yellows, greens, purples, oranges and a variety of shades of blue. There is an organic aspect to his work – his paintings are alive not just with colour but with nature, with growth, renewal. In fact, his abstract paintings are also closely linked to his landscapes, paintings which depict mostly the local environment, especially that of the South of Malta and Kalkara in particular.

Apart from abstract paintings and landscapes, Paul excels at self-portraiture. His self-portraits, spanning more than a couple of decades and showing not just the changes over time in Paul himself but also, as is understandable, in Paul’s style, show a large degree of introspection. Like the rest of his works, his self-portraits tend to be bright and intense with a striking colour palette. The introspection is no surprise when one considers that Paul is also a poet.

His poetry, just like his paintings, shows his keen interest in nature and the local landscape, apart from his own interest in the creative process itself, the one that makes art possible in the first place. Nature in Paul’s poetry is both a metaphor and the environment around us, the cycle of life and the threats that it faces.

Paul Cassar

Paul’s interest in nature also takes on a cosmic aspect. The night sky with its myriad stars and its vastness is depicted as an explosion of colour that entrances the observer.

Another aspect of nature as seen in Paul’s paintings is that of growth and life, what might be referred to as the organic in Paul’s art. Spirals could be tendrils or branches, circles or ovals could be seeds promising new life and new beginnings.

The same preoccupations and vivid palette are also evident in Paul’s sculptures, some of which are exhibited in Southern Dreams. A notable example is The Box, (2023) Paul’s latest work.

The six faces of this cube are painted individually and distinctly in acrylics and each facet showcases Paul’s style and his concerns.

The Passage of Time, 2022

This exhibition is one where Paul is playing on home turf. He is exhibiting his work at Esplora in Bighi, Kalkara and in his own home, also in Kalkara. Bighi is where Paul spent his formative years in the classroom. Paul studied almost uninterruptedly for a decade in Bighi, from the late 1970s to the late 1980s. Two of these years 1977-1979 were spent in the building that now houses Esplora while the rest were spent in what are now Heritage Malta Conservation Laboratories.

Southern Dreams is on until April 9 at Esplora, Villa Bighi, Dawret Fra Giovanni Bichi, Kalkara. Consult the venue’s Facebook page for more information and opening hours.