In his novel American Gods, British author Neil Gaiman claims: “The way one describes a story, to oneself or to the world, is by telling the story. It is a balancing act and it is a dream”.

Anthony Lucian Cauchi’s sculptures in his exhibition, titled Outside Looking In, originate from different sources; from his dreams, his knowledge, his baggage – a creative balancing act indeed. Having read and taught History as a profession has given him ample fodder for his creative juices to flourish. “My work, be it drawings, sculpture or painting, can be regarded as a collaboration between my knowledge and my imagination,” the artist says.

He gets to the roots of the fable or historical figure as a launchpad for his ceramics. “When I was a history teacher, I indulged in discussions with students about personages of the Greek and Roman civilisations. The students contributed creatively with their beliefs of what these persons stood for,” Cauchi points out. “These ideas found their way into my drawings, and I referred also to them while I was kneading the clay for my sculptures.”

I try to portray redemption, that cruelty can be overcome

One can’t help but notice that the artist focuses on mythologies, fables and creatures of civilisations ranging from the Classical to the Norse. However, there is no reference to local subject matter, maybe finding our anthology of material less inspiring and captivating. However, he begs to differ. “Our anthology is practically a copy of others,” Cauchi remarks. “Malta is the result of major historical events that occurred both in Europe and the East. Any invasion and most settings of empires affected Malta in some way.”

Jupiter

He admits that his main interest lies in the protagonists and the fables of Roman and Greek mythology. The ancient religions and how their worshippers interacted with their idols is a point of contact that intrigues Cauchi. “For example, my Bull in Sacrifice analyses the moment of a bull’s throat is being cut while the sinner beneath is covered with and receives the animal’s sacred blood as an act of repentance for sins committed.”

The symbolism of Gustave Moreau and Odilon Redon

Cauchi is interested in the world of French symbolist Gustave Moreau (1826-1898), one in which mythology, eroticism and religion intertwine into new narratives. Moreau recreated new scenarios from old ones, endowing them with mystery and fascination. The Maltese artist’s paintings and ceramics are simi­larly seeped in this intrigue, this hinterland where the erotic, the mythological and the orthodoxi­cally religious converse and establish a new language. “In classical history, erotic gestures and encounters were dictated by the pantheon of gods and goddesses and through their requirements and taste for sacrifices,” Cauchi affirms.

In Homer’s The Iliad, Olympus dictates the fate of humanity, its deities seeking out particular specimens of it for their wiles and enjoyment, be it to satisfy a bloodthirst or to scratch an erotic itch. The terrestrial sphere was just a playground in which the heroes, their companions and the populace, including those that were hybrids, like centaurs, were mere pawns in the great Olympian scheme.

Centaurs in Love

“My work Centaurs in Love shows a male and female centaur bound by a loving kiss,” Cauchi says, thereby demonstrating the universality of love, transcending all, even the evil designs of the malignant overbearing pantheon.

Odilon Redon (1840-1916) is another French symbolist who poetically explored very strange subject matter populated by Cyclops, spiders and monsters, however in a backdrop in which nature thrives and prospers. Redon once wrote: “There is a certain style of drawing that the imagination has liberated from the embarrassing concern of real details in order that it might freely serve only as the representation of conceived things.” He created dreamworlds in which otherworldly creatures peacefully co-existed and interacted with nature. Although grotesque, these beings did not propagate a menacing aura. They seem to acknowledge their strangeness while learning to live with it.

Centaurus

Cauchi has embraced this philosophy and created dreamworlds of his own. “My ceramic Centaurus shows a husband-and-wife centaurs who have deve­loped wings instead of arms and are ready to fly away, to be in love.” His Horses in Love is a graphic and suggestive representation of two horses engaged in an erotic act that elicits comparisons with human lovemaking, a blurring of lines between the human and the animal, just like Redon did. The Maltese artist admits that there is a voyeuristic dimension to this sculpture: “The two horses are enthusiastically attempting to make love in the presence of their owner, this contributing to their sexual ecstasy.”

The monsters of today

“You must not forget that a monster is only a variation,” claims American novelist John Steinbeck in his East of Eden. Monsters have become entrenched in our psyche, we categorise mankind according to perspectives, honed by decades of conditioning, experience and edu­cation. Every era creates its own devils, its pits of humanity, its outcasts to be destroyed. One might even claim that the monsters of old are less scary as a dragon could be neutralised and chained, Goliath could be killed by a small pebble, dawn spelled the end for Nosferatu.

Horses Making Love

Maybe the passage of time has mellowed their menace, even as regards their storytelling enchantment. “I conceived of Dragon in Play as a reversal of roles. I dream of dragons and other legendary animals as having a heart and capable of tender actions, indeed a dragon kissing a woman in distress. I try to portray redemption, that cruelty can be overcome,” says Cauchi. “And maybe that labels are misleading. One doesn’t necessarily have to be born to live and to die as a monster. Every sentient thing is capable of love and transformation.”

Every sentient thing is capable of love and transformation

Cauchi’s pieces are like talismans, at times evoking the sculptural reliefs at the Temples of Khajuraho in India, commonly known as the Kamasutra Temples. However, the artist claims that he rarely connects with Far-Eastern civilisations as his profession as a History teacher focused more on the Classical Greek and Roman ones. “Eroticism in Classical Roman times was very obvious, as influenced by the different religions, their vast sprawling empire imported from the South and the East,” he asserts. “This erotic freedom and way of thinking is evident in their painting and sculpture.”

Joan of Arc

In Outside Looking In, he refers to later epochs too, such as 15th-century France and the myth of Joan of Arc; he sculpted her pitiful, imploring face as though consumed by flames, the plight of her martyrdom and claim to eternal fame. Viking Ship is about the funeral of a Viking leader and the ritual of the burning of the corpse in the middle of a bay.

“An artist deeply benefits from an appreciation and understanding of the art of different eras and what the art movements stood for, besides the consequential development of styles and techniques; this all contributes to a more honest artistic expression. All great art is universal and timeless,” Cauchi concludes.

Outside Looking In, hosted in the courtyard of the Malta Socie­ty of Arts, runs until October 4. Consult the society’s Facebook page for opening hours and more information.