The title of Gerald-John Micallef’s current exhibition, Introspection, evokes a descent into a deep personal space, a search for silence, to rediscover what was lost and reconfiguring chaos into cosmos.

The artist, who is also a priest, agrees that the title has profound undercurrents, representing what goes on through his mind.

“I am a person who thinks a lot, who reflects, who prays and who analyses everything so that I could manage to understand what’s going on around me, this through an exercise of assimilation. It is my relationship with the cosmos.”

Words are sometimes not enough to express everything; however, the creation of art, both as painting and sculpture, goes some way into facilitating this.

F'Dawlek

Complex thoughts that plague the mind are hard to convey as a visual alternative. So, for Introspection, Micallef is using his own poems as assistance, a body of work going back 35 years, to make his notions and concepts more comprehensible.

The choice of title is not coincidental – introspection elicits a personal delving.

“I feel like a creature shedding off my skin and growing into a new one. One exhibition organically evolves into another,” he says, remarking that his poetry honestly mirrors his soul.

“I use a simple copybook to jot down my intimate thoughts; an exercise that feels like taking off one’s layers of clothes to be utterly and unashamedly naked, exposed to the elements and the world.”

He continues: “These poems narrate my spiritual experiences, my intimate moments with God who is indeed my life force, who encourages me to persevere. Through visual art and poetry, I attempt to externalise what I’m feeling deep down.”

“Free, without boundaries and spontaneous are three characteristics that define my abstract painting,” the artist observes.

O Lejl

He says that his abstracts flow in a way similar to stressless movements in a dance sequence and, therefore, allow him to be honest and liberated in his expression.

“Some of the poems have a rhyme. I introduce rhymes for fear that, otherwise, it wouldn’t preclude the poems from being transformed into prose. I believe that the rhyming can rekindle my memories as well as those of the reader.”

There is a process of assimilation to a common idea or memory, pertinent to writer and reader. It is comforting for an individual to acknowledge that one’s thoughts are not necessarily strictly one’s own; the knowledge that a certain intimidating emotion can be universal. Micallef continues: “Through my expression, I would like to be of help to all those that get to meet me through my art and poetry. We don’t necessarily have to meet face-to-face for this conversation to take place.

The world should glorify the beauty that unites us rather than the differences that drive a wedge between us

“In fact, I would have liked to have included my musical compositions to accompany my visual art and poetry.” It is his dream that, one day, he would have the opportunity to unite all three facets of his creative expression, thus conveying a more holistic perspective of what he stands for.

All three art forms through which Micallef expresses himself are ingredients to a recipe that feeds his soul.

“They are accessories for me to pray; indeed, to be one with God and share with Him my fears, my experiences, my forebodings. My art is a prayer in a consumerist world where the image and money are kings.”

Delving into the figurative

Micallef had accustomed the art-loving public to abstraction. However, Introspection explores the representational in an earthily-caked manner, somehow evoking Antoine Camilleri.

The artist points out that there was not the intention to make copies of the Maltese modern pioneer’s work.  “Antoine is one of the giants of Maltese 20th-century art that I find most inspiring,” Micallef adds.

“I feel I am invited to engage in prayer when I see his work. Camilleri expressed what troubled and redeemed his soul, by referring to various salient episodes in his own life.”

Lil Malta

He was using clay before he got to know about Camilleri, learning the technique during pottery lessons at school at about 10 or 11 years of age.  One wonders whether some of these works are self-portraits or whether they are universal references to the general human condition.

“Some of these works are indeed self-portraits,” Micallef admits. “There was a time in which I could not rationalise events and things happening around me. I felt that a culture of death and evil, a kingdom of money, power and success at all costs were gaining the upper hand.”

He states that he isn’t a populist, neither in his role as a priest nor in his creativity as an artist. “My art is not meant to please; it is a sincere expression of my relationship with God and with the world around me. At times, there are earthly forces that make one feel that one is imprisoned, that one doesn’t belong at all, an ostracisation.”

For Micallef, the colour red has great chromatic and symbolic qualities. It is a colour that unites us as members of the human race for we all have red blood bubbling through our circulatory systems.

One of the works in Introspection depicts a crucified Christ at the moment when the cross still lies on the ground, body and all.

“I have come to believe that Christ spilt his blood in vain, when taking into consideration humanity’s shortcomings, mine included. The world should glorify the beauty that unites us rather than the differences that drive a wedge between us.”

Introspection, hosted by Ir-Razzett tal-Markiż Mallia Tabone, Mosta, runs until Sunday, November 27. Consult the venue’s Facebook page for more information.