Recently I have embarked on a project titled Ex Voto, which will eventually lead to my first solo exhibition this coming September at The Malta Maritime Museum in Birgu. Ex Voto is a project supported by the Malta Arts Fund.
Works produced would be a contemporary portrait of salvation built by a fusion of Christian iconography, urban environment and seascapes. Malta is highly evident in such project: the idea of an island, with all its connotations, would be present throughout the project. As a start, I have been focusing on Filfla, which for me, coming from Zurrieq, has always been part of my childhood scenario.
Together with reseaching the limited resources information related to this islet, I am currently trying to get access to see some Ex Voto paintings which used to be at Tal-Hniena chapel in Qrendi. One particular painting, dated 1831, shows two fishermen, Pietro Formosa and Guiseppe Farrugia, being rescued after being stranded on Filfla for a week due to a tempest.
Other locations have been explored as well, including Comino and Gozo. The aim is to build a clear visual link between island, solitude and salvation. The media in which these themes would be explored are lino printing and painting,
