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THIS WEEK ART maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 APRIL 2019 4 Qormi-born but London-based artist Mario Lautier Vella speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about his upcoming exhibition 'The Two of Us', in which he explores the layered implications of the art of portraiture Could you tell us a little bit about your history as an artist and painter? What were your initial triggers and motivations to begin exploring the creative path. I have been on this creative path since childhood. I am from Qormi originally but left for the UK while still a baby and grew up in a very artistic home in North London. My grandmother who also lived with us had been an artist when she was younger and still living in Bormla, but she wound up her art practice once she started a family. My earliest memories are being with her – I must have been three or four years old – and always being encouraged to draw and paint, and then talking about my ef- forts and also being shown an array of images. My mother was a dressmaker and my father was a painter and decora- tor, plus our London home was packed with Maltese Catholic imagery that I was always fascinated by, so there were always these conversations about col- our or ways of making and doing things and always something to look at, watch, think about and discuss – being creative was something that was second nature to us all. I studied art at secondary school but didn't have the most encouraging teach- er. Once I left school at 16 and went to college I found myself exploring other artistic fields including theatre design, costume design, graphic design, typog- raphy and video. Soon enough I found myself on an information and graphic design degree course which I loved. I'd spend hours in the university library looking at fine art and photography books all of which fed into my course work. Later I worked in the media as a music and film writer and website edi- tor but visited exhibitions and attended evening classes to refresh and enhance basic skills like drawing and painting as well as branch out and try other tech- niques including sculpture, sewing and printmaking. After being made redun- dant I decided to pursue art as a full- time profession. Those early years definitely shaped who I am and what I do, and I feel very blessed to have had very encouraging parents, some great teachers and close friends who were always supportive with all the decisions I made. The crea- tive path is not an easy one to follow so it helps to have good, genuine people in your life to help you along. You've chosen to work in a number of different media, formats and disciplines. What informs this approach? My art practice is largely ideas-driven in that my work is often made in re- sponse to something I've seen or some- thing I have experienced, and in turn that shapes what media or discipline I choose to work in. Sometimes one piece of work Teodor Reljic It takes two Mario Lautier Vella • Photo by David Vella Shaw