|
Fabiola Agius Anastasi’s has three pronged priorities in her life giving importance to her art, career and family. She has followed the path of many artists experimenting with different forms and finally deciding on ceramics. Her works of art compliment her mood, but also help her to remain calm. MaltaToday caught up with her this week .
What inspired you to become a ceramicist? Was there any family inspiration?
Since I was young I was always interested in different art forms and spent several years learning and experimenting with various media. Then a few years back I took up ceramic lessons and I instantly got hooked on the medium. Working with raw clay is very relaxing and seems to have a calming affect on me. Being artistically inclined it was quite easy to turn my newly discovered medium into more shape. The fact that clay can be moulded to any 3D shape is superb and one’s ideas can run wild. Another good point of the medium is that although a considerable amount of time is needed from start to finish to complete a piece, the final object is everlasting.
When it comes to my family, they are my true inspiration, and they all give me their full support. Being a very calm person surrounded by a serene family leaves me ample time to enjoy life and the beauty of art, mainly ceramics.
In what way are your pieces a reflection of yourself?
Each and every piece of my work reflects a different mood. A mood usually lasts only a few hours so the piece I am working with has to be finished in due time otherwise my ideas change and will not be able to complete it. When a piece is too complicated to finish in a few hours I wrap it up till I get into the same mood some other day.
To what extent do emotions play a part in your art? And to what extent your intellect?
I consider my emotions to play an important part in my work. I never work when I am sad or too tired, even though my works can even reflect soberness. I think when a person is creating a piece of art it basically comes from the inner soul and subconscious, which is a mixture of both emotions and intellect. Being an engineer by profession I tend to be logically minded. My art work reflects the illogical part of thinking; an abstract impression of life itself.
Are you aiming to entertain through your works or are you aiming to create the immortal?
Both. I do my work to please the eye in an everlasting way. Most often I simply create my work to have fun and hopefully others will enjoy it as much as I do. I hope that when one looks at the art works one stops and thinks about them; after all they reflect human moods, moods which are shared amongst all.
Can you tell us something about the high and low points of your career?
I dare not say that taking up ceramics is going to turn into a full time career. After all it started out as a hobby and I am now taking it much more seriously. I have had a number of high and low points in my life but not directly related to my artistic career. One of my earliest achievements, apart from those academic and having a family, was the honour of winning a gold award in an international art exhibition. My downs are when I loose one of my art pieces during the drying or firing stage or when one of my pets accidentally destroys one!
Besides ceramics have you done other art forms or would you like to, if so which?
I have tried my hands on anything that comes my way and I have experimented with nearly all media found commercially. I started out with pencil drawing when I produced a steady stream of animals, plants and portraits. Then I turned to charcoal and later started experimenting with colours, mostly watercolours, pastels and acrylics. My earlier works were more of the landscape type. Slowly, as I matured (though not everyone might agree!) I turned to more abstract work in ink then in colour. Obviously having studied art for a number of years adds to the final product. Now I am caught with ceramic art. I cannot say how long this phase will last but it looks as though I finally found myself in this wonderful medium.
Your ceramics have an earth, air, sea, quality about them, am I to assume you are trying to convey an environmental message? Do you also do totally different pieces?
I consider myself an environmentalist. I love nature in all its forms and I look for the minute details. If one asks me whether a particular art piece resembles something particular in nature, well the answer is yes and no altogether. It is usually a build-up of ideas and inspirations. I usually do different pieces. I started out working on more conventional objects, such as vases, but once I mastered the techniques involved, I quickly moved on to more unconventional shapes such as unorthodox bowls and abstract sculpture and wall hanging pieces.
Can you tell us something about your current and upcoming exhibition?
My current exhibition at Veccja is called 'Discovery' - these are pieces symbolising ‘short stories’ from the earth - sea, fire, metal and human. My sequel exhibition at Trabuxu, ‘Neo-art’ has more vivid expressions on the same lines - abstractions of beginnings and history with natural elements. Both exhibitions are being handled by Chiaroscuro Artist Representatives as is also my upcoming joint exhibition with another Maltese artist, Lisa Falzon, in November.
Any future plans?
Well I have been hiding my art for too long. Now its time to exhibit my work. I like to live for today. Yet I hope to produce more work in the future; work that I consider challenging as well as pleasing. Hopefully my work would be appreciated and enjoyed by you as it is by me!
|
