The explicit delicacy and finesse, the rough and smooth of tactile and textured surfaces, the plasticity of round forms and flatness of slab shapes, the sense of construction and engineering of architectural pieces with the organic dynamism of natural creations create a polarity and dichotomy.

Unity and disparity, an aggressive and docile touch that is quite rare and unique, simple and complex… These contrasts are the result of adventure, experiment and the excitement of risk. This polarity of restraint and abandon is the hallmark of the artist’s work. Meticulous, studied techniques are imbued with the freedom and liberty of the creative force.

Somewhere in Gozo, New Moon, Uptown, Old City and Midnight are a series of collages or slab reliefs mounted onto old wooden shutters. These found objects are transformed into exquisite pieces with the work ethic of a restorer, lovingly and painstakingly conserving metal hinges, locks and layers of velature of original paint. The respect for the found object is so deep that the shutters are reversible and can be reused in their original setting. Yet, the unity of the pieces is astoundingly lyrical.

The buildings in Uptown have a roseate hue, as if tinged by the mitigated light of a rising sun which is so contagious that it spreads onto the wood support in sympathetic magic. While the sun is not visible in this piece, the moon is in New Moon. The austere monochromatic quality of the series gives place to the rosy fingers of dawn in Uptown.

Lotus is a geometric abstract of great purity and simplicity, as if designed by a metal divider with chords of circles incised into the clay. The effect is astounding in its mathematical precision and rationality.

The artist reserves a paean for the female nude figure in Erotica, Written in Sand and Small of the Back. She breaks into song and, with feminine delicacy, she etches in the clay nude figures with an economy of line and graphic effect. The lyrical and poetic harmony of these works is inspired by literature and song. They suggest through pure beauty of form the pleasure in anticipation through sensual seduction and fatal attraction.

Lungaro-Mifsud presents a rich collection of ceramics that reveal a romantic strain, a creative and expressive force, original and unique, the result of combined and opposite forces of abandon and restraint.

Windows runs at the La Vallette V.I.P. Club Lounge at the Malta International Airport, Luqa, until May 31.