The continuous cycle of nature is the inspiration behind James Vella Clark’s recently inaugurated exhibition, Dead Palm Tree, which shows his latest collection of landscapes at Lily Agius Gallery, Sliema.

Dead Palm Tree is not about death; it’s about acknowledging that whoever we are and whatever we do, no matter how much we persevere and no matter how infallable we may think we are, we all die

An unusual recurrent use of green tones dominates the bigger part of this collection. The composition in most paintings is still structured but forms now seem to extend more vertically and successively unlike previous patchwork.

Nonetheless, the overall style remains somewhat abstract and highly spontaneous. It is a style that can be easily defined as ‘structured abstraction’, ­conveying the message that while the artist wants to remain in control, there is a lot of ‘letting go’, thus suggesting an unusual balance between control and surrender.

Vella Clark’s landscapes retain the predominant features that have defined his work over the past years. The landscape is still dominated by the archaic church cupolas, a constant reminder of our Mediterranean submissive nature to our beliefs that gives us a false sense of moral security, the colours, still Mediterranean, the surface still heavily textured, and the perennial palm tree, symbol of man’s spirit of perseverance amid the different landscapes of life.

“My first palm tree sprouted somewhere in 2008, replacing the cypress tree which had been present in many landscapes before. Since then, this detail in many of my works has redefined itself as representational of individuals in particular life circumstances, within their own personal context.

Dead Palm Tree is not about death; it’s about acknowledging that whoever we are and whatever we do, no matter how much we persevere and no matter how infallable we may think we are, we all die. And as I look at this collection and see how my style is evolving, this theme becomes also representative of the end of a phase and the birth of a new one,” the artist explains.

The exhibition features around 15 new pieces, most of them small in dimension but nonetheless, still very valid vehicles of self-expression and connection with the audience.

“My small paintings are very intimate as they invite the viewer to move closer to the work and become part of the experience I want to share,” adds the artist.

Born in 1975, Vella Clark has established himself as one of Malta’s expressionist interpreters of the Maltese urban and rural landscape. Since his first public exhibition in 2001, his works have been gradually gaining a more abstract dimension and today, the artist’s main idiom is abstraction which lends mostly to the abstract expressionist movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

The themes in his canvasses are raw, and centre round the emotion, the weakness and vulnerability of the artist.

“The artist is first and foremost human and my humanity, whether in its frail and vulnerable nature, or in its inner strengths, is the central theme in most of my works.”

Besides a number of solo exhibitions in Malta, Vella Clark has held personal exhibitions in Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and New York .

He has also taken part in collective exhibitions in Barcelona, Florence, Brussels, Duisburg, Vienna, Mannheim, Oostende and Paris.

Dead Palm Tree is open until November 24.

www.jamesvellaclark.net