An exhibition featuring 52 works by Maltese artist Matthew Cassar is currently ongoing in St Julian’s.

Cassar is a deeply involved and enthusiastic artist and teacher of art, a poetic dreamer with a lyrical fantasy, a profound interpreter of nature’s wonders, specialising in sunset and sunrise on a liquid element: the sea. The sea inspires him and stimulates his romantic and sentimental nature.

In the artist’s own words, “my artistic vision and basic source of inspiration is light and atmosphere, dynamics and movement. I am fascinated by rough stormy seas as since early youth I used to observe and meditate rolling waves, studying their oscillatory movement and watching their progress as they rush and break on the shore. My favourite artist is Turner and I mainly work in oil.”

Entitled Vita et Lucis, Cassar’s work is redolent with romantic fervour and intense emotional feeling. His love of the sea and especially of waves breaking on the rocks is a recurring theme in his work. His rare and unique way of capturing atmosphere, mood and character of this wild element is the result of his deep sensibility and acute sensitivity.

The lyrical and poetic way in which he captures nature’s mood reveals his reverence for creation, his tremulous intensity in the awe he feels when confronted by its cosmic spirit in open spaces. He feels dumbfounded, bewildered, mesmerised and overwhelmed in front of nature. Cassar is an avid dreamer as he weaves reality, myth, magic and mystery.

Cassar was born in Rabat in 1946, the son of J. B. Cassar, a composer of songs, lyrics and music.

During his childhood, he read novels adapted for children and loved comics. These stories stimulated his imagination and fantasy and sparked his creative talent. He was awarded a diploma in Master Art from Scranton University in Pennsylvania in 1994.

■ The exhibition is on at the Cavalieri Art Hotel in St Julian’s until January 14.