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Offering an insight into how artists relate to some aspects of living in society, Human presents a collective of multi-disciplinary works and an exploration of what goes on in the head of 10 emerging artists.

The participating artists are George Micallef Eynaud, Matyou Galea, Jeremy Amaira, Michela Said, Thea Vella, Rebecca Bonaci and Aaron Bezzina, Christian Micallef, Darren Tanti and Roxanne Gatt.

Micallef Eynaud opens the exhibition with an oil painting called Liberal, a take on the word travesty, in reaction to the distorted or absurd conceptions that seems to emanate from society when looking upon global events, especially recent uprisings in the Middle East.

Galea deals with boredom and how it can be the catalyst of creativity. His sculpture Line Sound Synthesis, uses junk metal to create a sound machine, an interactive musical instrument.

The collection of charcoal drawings by Amaira, called The Spectacle of Dead, is exactly what the title says – portrayed through a repetitive series of drawings of explosions.

The explosion in itself is the antagonist of life – it destroys landscapes, habitats and nature at one end; families, lives and humanity’s sense of peace at the other.

Through her Ethereal series, Said explores being a woman – the feminine body is a staple in popular artistry, yet what about the females? This series explores the sense of physical awkwardness and resulting alienation.

By creating fabric extravaganzas, she amalgamates the largely women’s craft of sewing with fine arts, and beautiful depictions of majestic animals alongside female figures, in almost intimate, provocative positions.

In growing up, we cling to things – with special idealism – related to our childhood. Vella takes us on a little walk around her grandmother’s house, providing us with drawings of individual rooms and spaces we can stitch together in what one can call a DIY childhood memory exercise. How do these memories shape us now that we have grown older?

Francis is a Maltese archetype who hangs out at the band club guzzling beer and whisky, debating football and partisan politics and is married to his dog or bird more than to his actual wife.

Bonaci takes the interminable questions about her place in the world and translates them into a portrait of a golden man who is obviously important as a human being, without us really knowing why.

Bezzina offers a different perspective on Jesus Christ, who here is an allegorical icon going through a transformation. As Bezzina puts it: “[The Individual] appears to be attempting to reinvent himself in every frame only to realise how absurd the outcome is.”

Micallef’s work is created around religious notions of sin, redemption and death, making his work’s aesthetic reminiscent of church interiors.

The artist is able to expose ways in which our culture constructs us like a language, and opens up others to imagine how it could have been done differently

The two Godsend pieces bear resemblance to church altars – the wooden cabinets contain the mice that feed snakes, as the altars contain saints that feed faith – the snake a metaphor for materialism.

A self-portrait seems to be placed in between as a suggestion that mortality is inevitable, be it saints or snakes you believe in.

Tanti explores humanity’s preoccupation with reality by delving into the subject with a new twist – 3D painting.

Its classical subject and execution are completely re-imagined through the visual effect created. It is a merging of painting techniques and scientific knowledge, in an attempt to create a hyper reality, when seen through the appropriate glasses.

The only work in the form of digital media, Gatt’s video explores the human condition by questioning whether there are any inherent human characteristics. The video investigates alternative realities by disrupting language and restructuring it in a way that alters its meaning.

In doing so, the artist is able to expose ways in which our culture constructs us like a language, and opens up others to imagine how it could have been done differently.

Human runs until Wednesday at Blitz, St Lucy Street, Valletta.

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