Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/667669
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 17 APRIL 2016 30 This Week The surrealist drive Détails, 2016, Oil on wood, 30 x 30 cm, Courtesy Galerie Dukan Sous nos pieds, 2015, Oil on wood, 30 x 30 cm, Courtesy Galerie Dukan What kind of memories do you have of Malta, and would you say they've shaped your work in any way? I have beautiful memories of Mal- ta. I specially remember my grand- mother Giuseppina Calì, who was a person full of love. We used to spend every summer in her house in Sliema (Old College Street) where each wall was covered by family paintings. Her husband was Guido Calì who I sadly never met but thanks to my mother who talked so much about him I could know more about his beautiful personality... I used to spend a lot of time in his studio, which was a room full of treasures. This space was magical for me as a kid, because I could feel his presence in every object. I loved to spend time there, looking at boxes full of im- ages, his brushes and easels and ad- mire his paintings – especially a big unfinished one representing the sea. Malta memories: drives on small roads bordered with stones, the beach with all the family, little bread rolls from Belleview Bakery in Mellieha filled with tuna and to- mato paste which my Nanna used to make, also enchanting moments starring at Giuseppe's paintings in churches, laughs and plays on the roof with my brothers, and the sound of people talking Maltese, so beautiful... We are all coming back this sum- mer to celebrate my parents' 40th wedding anniversary, so once again the island is connected with love to me. Of course, all those memories have shaped my imagination, such as Malta's position in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, crossing so many cultures! You have quite an idiosyncratic style, which appears to blend vari- ous genres and elements – surreal- ism, perhaps, being chief among them. How did you develop this style, and why do you find it such a suitable conduit for you? I get my inspiration mostly from my travels, but also from artists as Félicien Rops, James Ensor, Fridah Kahlo or Max Ernst. My childhood spanned across Malta and Ivory Coast, my father had been director of the Alliance Française in Malta and then was appointed as a school director in the Ivory Coast, still at that time my family and I were spending whole summers in Malta. All those memories modelled my spirit and made my imagination ready to be attracted by magical and surreal worlds. There are no borders in my works and I love to mix references, for example to associate Japanese pat- terns with Indian gods and Inuit drawings. This is a suitable conduit for me because everything is always open to transformation. When I start a painting I never quite know how it's going to end up, and I love this sense of playfulness and risk: each day at the studio is different, and I truly appreciate this aspect of the work. What would you say are some of the most significant lessons you've learnt, on your road to becoming an artist? Always listen to your heart. Be- lieve in your dreams and stay true to them. Being an artist can also be very tough. You also need to sustain your confidence. I share my life with an artist and we choose this way of life, because freedom is precious. Doing what you love to do is fortu- nate, and I feel very lucky about this! How did you find negotiating the business and marketing side of the art scene? When I was still studying, I had the chance to meet [gallery owner] Ber- trand Baraudou, who invited me for an exhibition in his gallery in Nice, and I ended up by working with him for 11 years! Thanks to him, every- thing started on the right track, and A descendant of none other than Giuseppe Cali, French-Maltese surrealist painter Karine Rougier is establishing herself as an up- and-coming artist of some worth, having most recently exhibited at the prestigious VOLTA gallery in New York. She speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about the creative direction of her work and how Malta continues to serve as an influence Karine Rougier