On the 10th anniversary since the passing of sculptor Joseph Casha, Joseph Agius talks to the artist’s youngest daughter Alison Casha, his brother Louis Casha, best friend Paul Haber and art critic Louis Laganà about the legacy he left behind.

The work of sculptor Joseph Casha (1939-2011) originates from an admiration for the 20th century art movement of surrealism.

The landscapes of Max Ernst, one of the major protagonists of this celebrated movement, exhibit decaying fantasy landscapes, ‘forests’ of totemic formations, fragmented trees, as well as anthropomorphic and biomorphic organic forms.

Casha’s most recent sculptures similarly portray this fusion of motifs, as expressed by art critic Louis Laganà: “Casha uses the essential parts of human anatomy to develop themes which express ‘primitive’ images like totems and archaic figures derived from the collective unconscious.

“Typical characteristics of Casha’s forms are the pointed structure, cone or spiral.”

Laganà further adds: “Casha’s conical spirals are usually constructed with pointed arched doors and windows leading to rooms and spaces without a definite destination.

“In myths and dreams, images of structures of castles, palaces and houses symbolically relate the ‘lonely’ journey of the liberation of transcendence of the individual.”

However, it was not only surrealism that inspired one of the most unique of Maltese 20th century sculptors.

Early years of a budding artist

Louis, one of Casha’s younger brothers, also an artist in his own right, nostalgically reminisces on the early years when both boys were members of the Rabat group of the Boy Scouts.

“Tall and slender, he was the standard bearer of the group and led the troop in parades and holy processions.” During these years, Casha executed some works for the scouts’ headquarters, probably this being the budding artist’s first public commission.

Louis continues: “He painted the scout badge on the main door of our premises and also did a mural with iconographic elements of the Scout Movement. Needless to say, members of the group just loved what he did!”

He made lanthorns from cardboard and coloured paper, that were candlelit and that accompanied the young boys in their annual carol singing on the streets of Rabat on Christmas Eve. Louis remarks: “At that moment in time, he was not receiving any formal art training, so I can affirm that Joseph was indeed born an artist.”

Artistic crib-making could have been one of the initial sparks towards his future stylistic choice. He met a friend at the Dockyard School, which he was attending to become an electrical fitter, who introduced him to the technique of crib-making. The hands-on approach required the fluidity and malleability of papier-mâchè, and this must have fuelled a love for sculpture.

Studies in Malta, Italy and the UK

Casha’s father, Anthony, was aware of his son’s abilities and he asked him to copy the Cospicua parish church’s statue of St Joseph carrying baby Jesus, the work of celebrated sculptor Abram Gatt. This Casha copied to perfection, inducing the father to encourage his talented son to further his artistic studies at the Malta School of Art between 1959 and 1961. Sculptors George Borg and Samuel Bugeja took him under their wings and nurtured in him a love for discipline and refined his techniques.

He immediately embarked on a four-year period of studies in Rome at the Accademia di Belle Arti, Istituto Statale d’Arte and Scuola delle Arti Ornamentali (1961-1964).

Louis says that there his brother befriended Maltese abstract artist Alfred Chircop, also a student: “For one year, they shared a room at Via di Ripetta, close to the academy,” Louis recalls.

These studies were followed by one year of study in the UK, in 1965, at Brighton’s College of Arts and Crafts, from where he graduated as a qualified art teacher, which was to become his full-time profession. His pedagogical attributes were also put to good use at ceramist Paul Haber’s Alka Ceramics where Casha embarked on instituting a sculpture class that Haber claims “was always very well attended by adult students looking for some respite from their busy schedules, stressful career and fast-track life to de-stress, create and enjoy modelling under his expert tuition”. This class is still ongoing, years after its originator’s demise.

According to Louis, his brother worked quickly in the execution of his pieces. “He would work with clay very naturally and his slender fingers would move as fast as a piano player on his keyboard. Art was natural to him as leaves to a tree.”

He exhibited the same speed and dexterity in carving wood, a medium much after his heart. Louis claims that this love for wood was the legacy of their father, who was a boat builder as well as a carpenter, besides a shipwright at the dockyard. “Near our house was a carpenter and wood sculptor called Ċikku. As little kids, we frequented his shop and he let us in because he knew our father. Ċikku must have inspired Joseph too in my opinion.”

The fantasy world of films like Lord of the Rings enthused him; the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and the towers of Gondor and Mordor were interpreted in his terracotta pieces and collages

Joseph Casha’s youngest daughter, Alison always remembers that his studio was an integral part of the family home in which the artist used to spend hours. She reminisces: “Ever since I can remember, my father’s art was part and parcel of his role as a father. I used to spend hours with him, seeing him sculpt and create. He used to involve me by allowing me to model clay and feel part of his world. I loved it. One day, I must have been six, while in his studio, my father asked me to sit still for him, and in a few hours created a bust of me in clay.”

Casha was an all-rounder, proficient in woodwork, writing and photography as well as gardening, and he passed a lot of his knowledge to his young daughter for which she is very thankful: “I used to try and copy him in everything, and I always did well in art competitions at school.

“Our library at home was full of books related to art and bonsai (Casha founded The Bonsai Culture Group in 1992); those were my reading books as a young daughter of an artist, and it shaped me in becoming a creative person in anything I do.”

Deep friendship with ceramist Paul Haber

Being an artist, Joseph Casha frequently liaised with colleagues like Anton Agius, Harry Alden, Ġanni Bonnici and Charles Cassar. However, it was ceramist Paul Haber who was truly his best friend.

Haber nostalgically shares some memories: “I consider Joseph Casha as a friend and collaborator; we shared, discussed and appreciated each other’s works, our gardens, and of course, our respective families.

“We were always there for each other whenever the need arose.”

Casha used to enjoy visiting and seeing the ongoing creative projects at Alka Ceramics, watch the artisans and artists at their job and give his opinion, which was always welcome.

Haber continues: “Soon he was coming up with new ideas and ended up designing a range of sculptures for production as well as custom-made commissions. Another line was his house name range which soon became very popular and can still be enjoyed on the façades of many houses and villas throughout the Maltese islands. His collections, some of which are still in production, show his very distinctive style and design mastery. He was very innovative and could pick an item from the production line and alter it in a way that it became a unique objet d’art.”

Legacy and posterity

Posterity is a factor that motivates all artists, and public monuments, in the case of sculptors, are mementos of their oeuvre that can be appreciated by a wide audience, even after they depart from this world. Alison points out that one of the defining moments in her father’s artistic career was when he was commissioned for Attard’s Pope John Paul II monument, as was the Bank of Valletta retrospective exhibition (2005-2006).

These recognised and celebrated his career, which saw changes of styles, themes, materials and methodologies. Alison experienced his 50-year-long evolution, the curiosity, the thirst to adapt to changing times.

The fantasy world of films like Lord of the Rings enthused him; the world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth and the towers of Gondor and Mordor were interpreted in his terracotta pieces and collages.

Fantasy and Reality was Alison’s act of love towards her father: “I am proud to say that, as his youngest daughter who was also a best friend to him, I was the person to give him the most emotional moment in his career.

“In 2008, on his 69th birthday party, I communicated to my dad that my present for his 70th would be to publish a book about his artistic career. I will never forget the look on his face when I broke the news to him; he had dreamt about it for years but never got down to do it, so I stepped in.” This was a joint father/daughter enterprise and its official launch in 2009 was timely as the artist passed away in June 2011.

On June 24, Alison will be launching a new website dedicated to her father as an artist ‒ www.josephcasha.com. She believes he was not given the recognition he truly deserved on a national level.

“This is exactly my mission from the day he passed away, to ensure his artistic legacy is appreciated and honoured.

“There are some projects in the pipeline which I cannot disclose yet, but which this year, being the 10th anniversary from his passing, will reveal,” she concludes.