‘Closer to the heart… away from it all’ is the title of an exhibition of works by Joseph Casapinta being held at Portomaso Tower, St Julian’s.

There is a certain emotional restlessness- E.V. Borg

Casapinta is an incurable romantic who has finally found solace in nature to escape the stress and tension of modern living. He feasts his eyes on light and colour, on white billowing clouds, on the deep blue sea, on clear blue skies, on fields of red poppies, yellow and white mustard, Cape sorrel, red clover and stretches of wheat dancing in the breeze.

The relaxing mood of the countryside is captured on canvas with emotional vigour, with the lyrical sentiments of a romantic poet. His mentors are the impressionists, such as Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet. Vincent van Gogh is his idol and “in some cases more aggressively a touch of Turner too”.

Casapinta prefers to capture a scene with perfect visibility, otherwise he changes it on purpose to look like that. So his canvases are clear and simple, with vibrant colour and brilliant light. Surrounded by nature’s music, his contentment is obvious. His empathy with nature is complete.

Casapinta started as a graphic artist and a competent illustrator but as he gained more confidence he turned to colour. Initially he had a limited palette with blues, greens and burnt sienna with tonal effects. With such an economy of colour, he could reconcile his graphic verve with tonal effects.

Last month, the artist created a series of abstracts in vibrant colour using a dominant strong redfor effect. These canvases are dynamic, powerful, passionate and bold. But their impact is similar to the ‘aggressiveness’ he achieves with his blues and greens inprevious phases. There is a certain emotional restlessness.

This sense of struggle surfaces in an angry sea, in a sky with the dark clouds of an impending storm, and in the gnarled or twisted trees of the present collection.

The sky, the sea, the land – rocks, hills, terraced fields and the solitary countryside chapel and lane – inspire Casapinta’s lyrical scenes of great emotional beauty.

Sweet Dreams, with its dramatic lighting and reflection in water, with stupendous cliffs and rocks in deep ultramarine and purple, is quite surreal. The dream becomes a nightmare and perhaps this work stands out in the collection as it is in contrast with the tranquillity evoked in most of the works. Carmelite Church also depicts a striking reflection in Balluta Bay but there it parts from the occult, symbolic magic in Sweet Dreams.

Milestone is an exquisite landscape with a milestone from colonial times as the protagonist.

It seems like a romantic hand-coloured postcard of the 1940s with delicate hues and balanced tones that emanate a serenity outside time. Time stands still and it is a stretch of virgin, uncontaminated countryside of 50 years ago. It has a sense of history.

Prairies and Għasri capture the solitude and peace of sweet-scented fields painted with vigorous brushstrokes and palette knife in the manner of Van Gogh. The tension and dynamic strength in layering the paint hardly diminishes from the tranquility which the scenes depict.

But surely one feels the artist’s restlessness, possibly due to the excitement and passion he feels when surrounded by nature.

Casapinta might not be able to describe his moods verbally but surely he is an expert at depicting them. Looking at his pictures as in a mirror he sees his own reflection in an objective, critical way.

Night is falling on the land like a blanket. The sun’s disc, diaphanous red, slowly and softly sinks among the waves. Silence reigns supreme. With a piercing scream an isolated seagull, like Narcissus, kisses its reflected image and disappears with a beak stained in blood. The light, a time-switch, gradually becomes soft grey and gently gives way to darkness. The serenity and peace are overwhelming. Nature is a great healer. Painting is a feeble echo of such majesty but interprets the moment and creates catharsis. Abstract, real and surreal…

The exhibition will remain open until December 18. A 56-page full-colour catalogue is available at the venue.