Joyce Camilleri is currently the artist in residence at MUŻA, creating work within the confines of the hall known as the Community Space. She talks to Joseph Agius about her experience as a resident artist at Malta’s national art museum.

What is the idea behind an artist residency at MUŻA? What benefits does it have for the artist?

The residency is very process-based. There was no one particular theme I desired to follow, the exception being the two colours, black and ochre, that are the two main actors within the residency.  Ochra et Nigreos is the exhibition’s title. Such choice was determined by my wish that I shouldn’t be constrained by a pre-determined figu­rative theme or concept.

I have used these two colours in my art for the last two-and-a-half years and they are the trigger to a common denominator one discovers in all the work. At the same time, they allow me to wander and explore different itineraries and thus do not restrict me to a pre-set theme. In fact, the artistic process is the theme in itself.

Going through your Facebook page, I have come across a photo-essay thematically linked to doors. Is this a deviation from your general oeuvre?

Well... yes and no. These are photos snapped last summer when Valletta was lifeless and devoid of human activity. I used to have errands to run or meetings to attend and, in the meantime, I used to wander around, observe and snap shots. I was attracted to these doors, which in normal pre-COVID times, used to be open and welcoming. Now they were closed, shuttered, as if to deter the danger of the pandemic.

The essay is a study in composition, in perception and in bringing to the fore the unnoticed and taken for granted, as themes in themselves. These are characteristics I believe one comes across in my general oeuvre – the sense of balance in composition, the attention to a particular focal point, the narrative expression. Going back to this photo-essay, I stress the idea that, at the end of the day, a door is a door, but it could mean so many things such as the introduction to a chapter in a story as well as its very conclusion.

I hope this strong narrative sense is carried on in the work I’m creating right here, at this artist residency. In other words, this most simple two-colour theme can be the storyline of the most interesting of tales. The plot is simple but the way I tackle it is mystical and mysterious.

The human figure plays an integral role and is a major theme generally. I see it, at some level, as an investigation of the work of Egon Schiele. Besides this, your work reminds me of the language of the Bay Area Figuration artist, the late Nathan Oliveira. He reduced the human figure to its elongated, minimal, distorted and abstracted equivalent. Are you familiar with the American artist’s work?

Yes, one might perceive the distortion of the human form in my work that one finds in Schiele. But I have to point out the distinction between the studies from the life-class and these works which involve also studio research and practice. I wouldn’t use a study from the life-class setting as I wouldn’t have the model to work on; it’s a different playing field.

These figures emerge out of shapes and spaces, an exercise in imagination and resourcefulness. Some of the figures originate from black, white and grey spaces, but the common element that brings them together is solitude. Individual artworks would rarely depict more than one figure, for they are made to be on their own, possibly recalling my need for solemn silence and isolation while working.

The figures emerge out of shapes and spaces

At times they would be unplanned figures emerging organi­cally as the process pro­gresses. The general development in the composition acts as my guide to bring them out. This creative process evokes Michelangelo’s words when he declared that the inherent shape of the block of raw marble concealed a statue inside of it, waiting to be liberated.

The process guides me, the artwork is something not entirely dependent on me, I’m just a medium summoning it; it dictates the path, the direction. Paper is the medium I’ve been working with for the last few years. The characteristics and properties of the paper medium are an integral part of the narrative itself as the raw material turns into a product, into a finished artwork.

I feel that there is an improvisatory element in this sort of work. Or is it a misconception from my part?

Yes, there is a certain extent of improvisation; however, I exert some control over the process in the sense that I know what I’m doing. The exercise in observation during the life-classes, indeed my daily experiences, all these are ingredients which accumulate as preparatory groundwork. This work wouldn’t be possible without this experiential baggage.

Is this body of work going to be exhibited via a dedicated, traditional exhibition?

Joyce Camilleri

This is already an exhibition for all intents and purposes. It is a work in progress and had the COVID-19 measures not restricted entry to MUŻA, the visitors would have been able to actually appreciate the versatile, transformative nature of the whole project ‒ visitors on one day would have been able to see different works from those visiting on another day. It’s essentially an exhibition in progress. The only con is that I’m running out of wall space.

This space in which I’m working is my favourite space from the ones that were made available. Notwithstanding the ornate décor of this huge hall, I find that there is a dialogue going on bet­ween the neutral colour of the space and the artworks themselves, the ochre in the reliefs of the architecture resonates with the restrained ochre in some of my work.

Some of the works belong to the landscape genre. How did they come about?

Yes, they turned out as landscapes. They started out as abstracts and then developed into spaces and landscapes. Sometimes, figures emerge from the geography in a natural manner as part of the process. It’s more of a narrative of organic forms – there are organic forms and shapes in nature, in the landscape and the space around us, and obviously, in the human form itself, which sets up another dialogue. Landscape and the human figure are the underlying themes of my creative output. I do add colour sometimes, in this case ochre, to add a focal viewpoint, a visual resting space, to the composition. However, form and line are my main concerns, not colour.

After seeing the pieces and the space itself, I think that time and space are very relevant factors in your creative process. There is a ‘conceptual-art dimension’ that is transcendental in a way. Is this the case?

It is a gradual process. I do my best to be on site but there is some work that I cannot do here as I would need the printing press that I have at home. So, occasionally, work starts at home, with the caveat that it has to be continued here. Besides, I would need more equipment which would be a logistical nightmare to bring over from home. Unlike traditional exhibitions, these works are not the result of a whole year’s arts practice.

These works are being produced in the here and now, and yet they also reflect a long-lasting baggage of experience in the visual arts arena. Admittedly, the space does have its own limitations, especially in the particular dimensions of wall space. This, therefore, determines the size of the actual artwork. I have to keep that in mind; one can say that the process does have site-specific considerations in the sense that I am in a continuous dialogue with the space itself.

There is a conceptual ‘installation’ aspect to the whole thing as the work is specifically created for the space, limitations, possibilities and all. I’m working with the space, inside the space and for the space.

Ochra et Nigreos runs at MUŻA until May 30. The artist is working on site on Thursdays from noon to 4.30pm and on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 4.30pm.