Laying herself bare... a work by the artist ‘Nuntia’.She goes by the pseudonym of Nuntia but her whole life – a difficult upbringing, a failed relationship, a debilitating illness and her rebirth – has been laid bare on 20 canvases at a music club in Valletta.
Inside a Box is a very personal autobiography of Nuntia, complete with 10 thought-provoking poems in Maltese written by the artist herself.
Nuntia wanted to keep a vestige of anonymity in her first exhibition so that she could introduce herself to the public in a personal way.
“The paintings, made in the past four years, tell the story of my life, my 40 years of existence,” she says, pointing at Unseen, a portrait of a woman dressed in glamorous accessories, who seems to be dissolving in thin air.
“Half of me was unseen. That was a very difficult phase of my life. People weren’t seeing the real me – they weren’t seeing the suffering – but just the glamorous side. The real me was invisible to their eyes.”
I took all the negative to create something beautiful. I turned ugliness into beauty
An ME sufferer for 20 years, Nuntia featured the debilitating disease in a poignant portrait called Jailbird.
“That is how I feel every time I have a relapse, enter into remission and end up bed bound. It’s like receiving a prison sentence over and over again. In this piece, I am looking out of my bedroom window.”
Another piece, depicting an elaborate Venetian mask, is meant to portray the misinterpretation of ME as a psychological condition. Apart from soul-searching depictions of the disease, suicidal thoughts and narcissism, the collection includes an inspirational Tribute to Gustav – “a more current phase” – depicting self-love.
“This exhibition shows my rebirth. Nuntia is a new person. I rediscovered myself some four years ago, cut myself off from people and started a new life in a new environment.
“For this exhibition, I took all the negative incidents to create something beautiful. I turned ugliness into beauty... Why should we add to the ugliness that already exists,” she asked. Nuntia has combined colourful aesthetics and Maltese semitic sounds to express her emotions throughout the years.
She also added elements of femininity and spirituality, including the name of Jesus in Hebrew tattooed on one of the portraits called Mystic Bride.
In another piece, Nuntia is seen doting on one of her three ‘children’, Timmy, the cat, while in another portrait called Waiting, she is seen perched on an edge waiting for what the future has in store for her.
The acrylic pieces, inspired by Art Nouveau and Pop Art, have gone down well with the public and, until yesterday, seven had already found a new home.
The exhibition will be open at the La Valette National Philharmonic Society, in Republic Street, until tomorrow from 9am to 9pm.
More at https://www.facebook.com/nuntiasart?ref=ts&fref=ts .