“I don’t wait for inspiration. I’m not, in fact, quite sure what inspiration is, but I’m sure that if it is going to turn up, my having started work is the precondition of its arrival.” − Quentin Blake

The words of Quentin Blake, the British cartoonist who has illustrated over 300 books, including 18 authored by Roald Dahl, hold also true for Maltese artist Isabel Warrington, whose current exhibition titled Revelations indicates that the ‘un-concealment’ does not only relate to one aspect but many. It’s not only just one story that needs elaborating.

Warrington explores a fantasy world, one that is steeped in child-like fascination and that has a strong storytelling dimension and that maybe includes a shedding of layers of experience, in favour of the unadulterated wonderment of childhood.

The artist regards this exhibition as an introspective one.

“Indeed, I have peeled off many layers of my own personality,” she says.

Reaching Out

Warrington intends to transmit an artistic honesty that goes beyond theme and medium. She continues: “I’ve allowed myself the liberty of creating this body of work without taking into consideration how it would be perceived. I let things happen as I was sketching.”

She admits that she doesn’t always understand what she’s drawn. In fact, she isn’t able to explain, at times, what the drawing is all about.

“All I know is that it has been a cathartic exercise in unravelling my own personality,” she says, thus suggesting a journey into her subconscious, into her biography and bringing out what has been hidden through life as it happened.

Personal narratives

The history of the genre of illustration boasts many great protagonists, among which one can mention Gustav Doré, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, W. Heath Robinson and Blake.

A common denominator for most of these illustrators who took us on fictional journeys was an established storyline. Established literature set the measure for the artist, thus providing thematic structure and a safety net of comprehension as their illustrations refer to the specific author’s world of fancy. They interpret pictorially what has already been set in prose or poetry.

Life

The inspiration for Warrington does not originate from already-created scenarios, as they explore personal itineraries and backdrops.

Warrington points out: “They are a result of a year’s journaling into which I poured many emotions – frustration, elation, sadness, joy, anger, resilience, fear, enlightenment, anxiety, wonderment... I find my paintings tend to be more eloquent than my words.”

It has been a cathartic exercise in unravelling my own personality

The autobiographical fantastical dimension is the driving force of Revelations. There is no interpretation of established narrative; it is just pure self-expression that delves on the psychological and the philosophical.

The surrealists, such as Salvador Dalí, Rene Magritte and Yves Tanguy investigated the subconscious, juxtaposing the most absurd scenarios as one encounters in dreams. However, Warrington’s paintings refer more to the French symbolist Odilon Redon and, to a lesser extent, to the bizarre world of French illustrator Roland Topor.

Buttons as ‘found objects’

Warrington sometimes integrates found objects like buttons in her compositions. This endows these particular works with a craft-like folksy dimension.

One feels that there is a dichotomy underlying the Maltese artist’s works for Revelations, in the separate references to illustration on one hand and to folk art on the other. One speculates if these are indeed two separate paths that she follows independently, or if they come together in some way.

C’est Chic

“There are many dimensions to my art. I am also a costume designer and I enjoy exploring different facets of my creativity,” Warrington reveals.

“The found objects also have their own narrative. They bring nostalgia as well as opulence to my work. They are something from the past that I use as a medium just as I would use paint.”

Using found objects also demonstrates the artist’s love for the environment as she recycles and recontextualises materials that she collects: not only buttons but also bits and pieces that add texture to her art. However, she confesses that her expression does not follow some predetermined path.

Warrington is proficient in a variety of skills that she has picked up over the course of her life and she weaves these abilities into her work. There are a number of contemporary artists, such as Tracey Emin and Grayson Perry, who integrate materials associated with craft, thus elevating ‘prosaic’, rustic fabric and sundry scraps as worthy media for the creation of fine art.

“I love textiles, paper and texture. I create as the mood takes me. Sometimes a found object could spark an idea and lead me to something new,” she concludes.

Revelations is open at Gemelli Framing in Ta’ Qali Artisan Village until December 23. Opening hours are Monday to Friday: 8am to 2.30pm, Saturday: 8am to noon.