“I see the lines in the human form and nature in the same way,” says Skye Ferrante, as he’s working on my wire portrait. This fascinating former ballet dancer, writer and artist has been in Malta for just a few days, working on commissioned portraits and cityscapes, in his signature style and medium.

As we talk his expressions change; one minute he’s describing how comfortable he feels in a Maltese atmosphere, the next he’s concentrating intently as he looks up at me, then looks down again to add a line to the portrait. Almost intuitively, he judges an angle and makes an adjustment, twisting and pinching the wire to form long lines and tiny details.

Ferrante works exclusively with wire. He has found his perfect technique: somewhere between line-drawing and sculpture, it allows him to work quickly and intuitively, abstracting details and capturing form and movement, as maybe a slower medium would not.

Sometimes he works in brass or aluminium, even gold wire, but today he’s chosen a dark steel, with a beautiful burnished-brown finish. He enjoys working quickly. “Once you commit a line in wire, there’s no going back,” he says, and the immediacy of his way of working comes through in the finished work.

Once you commit a line in wire, there’s no going back

His work is a performance in itself. From time to time there’s a flourish and a flash of the wrist as he bends a piece of wire into place. He unrolls the wire from a clip on his blue mechanics overalls and with tiny rounded pliers, manipulates the wire into the form he wants.

Ferrante talks about his relationship with his model, whether it’s for a quick sketch or for a much more detailed work over the course of an afternoon. Here his writer’s mind comes to the fore; he says he’s interested in the story behind the person and the character he can bring out in his portraits. Indeed, sometimes he writes ‘portrait stories’ of his sitters, based on their conversations during the sitting. It’s a combination of a documentation of the process, and a description of that person’s life and character.

Ferrante’s warm character comes out too, in how comfortable he makes the model feel; part of the job of an artist is making his model feel at ease, and giving them an experience to take home along with the work. For some clients, Ferrante says, the experience is absolutely empowering.

He may be a writer  but Ferrante’s heart lies in his sculptural work and in the abstracted shapes and lines that his subjects offer up. As he works, the piece comes to life; the wire’s continuous line provides a movement and fluidity and an abstracted quality that go beyond the figurative sculpture he’s working on.

Jezebel

As with landscapes, the human form provides forms that through Ferrante’s eyes become abstract lines and curves, swirling and looping to form a whole. The lines of the wire flow and double back on themselves and move outwards to create a three-dimensional work that’s sometimes in relief and often free-standing. The same is true both for Ferrante’s quick, affordable portraits and for his larger, high-end, more intricate work.

Talking about Valletta, where he’s been based, Ferrante says, “the city has so much character – not only its buildings, but also its people and its daily life”. He feels at home in the city’s vibrant streets, and would like the opportunity to spend more time here.

As he finishes his portrait of me, Skye seems content; his artist’s hands have manipulated the wire lines to sit exactly how he wants them and his writer’s mind has conceived a story behind the work.

Skye Ferrante will be at Lily Agius Gallery, 54, Cathedral Street, Sliema for quick portraits tomorrow from 9.30am to 12.30pm and from 3.30 to 7pm. For more information, e-mail info@lilyagiusgallery.com or call  9929 2488 or 2099 2488.