Painting from memory

My forthcoming October exhibition at Gallery G in Lija is entitled "Consapevolezza". I find this Italian word, its general sense being that of a silent profound awareness, aptly encompasses the overall impressionistic mood of my portraits. Consistently, comments made about my portraits, be they of the collage series or of my longstanding portfolio of faces of Africa, are that the faces speak to them of deeper meanings. These buyers are responding to the portrait's implied history and accumulated experience, which reflects, in part, their own - and mine.

Artists paint about themselves whether they realise it or not. Every choice of subject matter, colour or style is revealing something of themselves through their art. Hence, my faces could loosely be described as self-portraits. What I have learned and what I have come to understand about this phenomenon called life, I am silently channeling through my art.

I first demonstrated an obsessive preoccupation with drawing when I was short. Nothing has changed much except that I'm taller now. In my dictionary, the definition for artists should be: overgrown children. And so much the better is the world for it. Being called a child or being childish is usually a form of criticism, but I think retaining childishness of spirit is crucial for an artist. It sustains an insatiable desire to interpret the world of colour shape and form, and a tireless passion for experimentation and exploration.

In following the trail of my art career, one may think I possess a stereotypical masculine trait, that of not asking for directions. But the lengthy detours including my 13 married years when I never once picked up a paintbrush, all contributed significantly, albeit indirectly, to my progress as an artist. These years gave me a rich library of memories from which to draw (excuse the pun), supplementing those of my childhood in East Africa, my art college years in London and my 10 year art career in the Arabian Gulf.

I draw almost exclusively on my memories when I paint, which explains the strong undertone of narrative in my works. It is also the main reason why I love painting faces; they lend themselves perfectly to the conveyance of an emotion and a history of experience.

While I have established myself as a portrait artist, my forthcoming exhibition will include some landscapes of Malta. Not content to simply record what I see, I find this subject matter offers a perfect opportunity to weave in iconic elements of the Maltese islands' history. It is not coincidental that I should have chosen to settle in Malta, since being someone with such a varied past, I cannot but be completely taken by Malta's fascinating rich legacy.