JA: Pyrography is defined as drawing with fire. What has brought on this direction in your artistic expression?

APC: Pyrography has been something that I was meaning to try for years. My father used to mention his sister Mary who used to decorate furniture using this craft, which was quite new back in those days. I investigated what was needed to start, the best wood for the job being either maple or cherry.

As for the burning tool, I had two soldering tools with which I had previously used to repair electrical wires, radios and electronic devices. I started to experiment on a piece of wood, and the results were encouraging. The next step was to decide how to proceed when the line drawing was all burnt. So I experimented with acrylic paint and after that with different varnishes.

Archbishop Street, Valletta

JA: In an article regarding your previous exhibition of pyrographs, aptly titled ‘Drawing with fire’, art historian Christian Attard drew parallels between these works of yours with your father’s paintings on incised clay. I find that there are parallels in themes, execution (introduction of colour) and stylisation as well. What is your take on this?

APC: There are similarities as regards the two mediums. The wood is something that is alive while clay is also a natural product which originates from earth itself. I choose street scenes and seascapes as themes and use the grain of the wood to my advantage, as in the representation of the ground, the sky or the sea, as waves. However, I am very careful to keep the grain of the natural wood visible in certain areas which also helps to give contrast via light and shade.

Bormla

That is one reason I choose locations like Valletta, where one can work with the play of light and shade in its typical streets. In both methods, my father by incising clay with a pointed tool, usually a needle, and myself, with a burning tool, we are both engraving in the material. Likewise, my father preferred the local clay because of its natural colour. And he used this to his advantage to acquire different cracks that would show more clearly with the light-stone-green colour of the clay.

The thickness of the clay helped him calculate the size of the cracks when it dried. The thicker the clay on the surface of the wood panel, the bigger the cracks. I used to help in laying out the clay on to the board, and this was very difficult especially when one had to apply a very thin layer of clay of approximately two to three millimetres in thickness.

My father has and will always be an inspiration to me. He was my teacher, father and best friend

JA: You are also exhibiting a series of ceramic sculptures, focusing on the theme of sport activities and figures in motion. It is also interesting that you have portrayed male and female weightlifters. Are you after the contrast – the fragility of the medium versus the representation of raw human strength and exertion?

APC: The theme has always been an inspiration. However, I have long been considering doing something very challenging. Years ago, when I was studying at the Malta School of Art, I used to attend welding classes at the trade school in Marsa and this knowledge came in handy.

Antoine Camilleri

Working on both weightlifters, one male and one female, required a lot of planning and preparation. Each part is calculated and tested to withhold the weight. I usually start with the bottom part, that is the base and feet, and gradually work towards the torso and hands. I used to practise powerlifting in the past; I still go to the gym three times in a week. 

Malta has many talented weightlifters of both sexes who do very well in international competitions. I also investigated the themes of pole vaulting, runners and high jumping. I am fascinated by the movement of the athletes. And although this creative exercise has been very challenging, besides the fact that clay is fragile, I managed to grasp the moment in which the athletes do their utmost to achieve success.

Antoine Camilleri

JA: Your father, Antoine Camilleri, was a giant of Maltese modernism. In this exhibition, you portrayed him via two sculptures. Do you still feel that, almost 18 years after his demise, he is still a lingering presence? Does his ‘advice’ still echo subliminally when you create?

APC: My father has and will always be an inspiration to me. He was my teacher, father and best friend. We spent hours together, working in different studios. In my childhood, it was in Balzan and later in Valletta, first at his Il-Kantina where I had a room in which I could work with clay. 

Female Weightlifter

Pole Vault

We shared studios in Vittoriosa. When we moved from Balzan to Valletta, we had the whole Balzan house to ourselves. We used to spend whole days there. We had organised the top floor as an exhibition area and worked in the lower floor and the yard. At noon, I used to cook something for both of us. It was the best time in my memory.

The subtitle of the exhibition, from drawing to painting and sculpture, in fact is one of the best lessons my father taught me. You have to master drawing before attempting painting and sculpture.  

Expression – From Drawing to Painting and Sculpture, hosted by Gallery 23, Triq Idmejda, Balzan, is on until October 27. Consult the venue’s Facebook page for more information.