Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/922844
maltatoday SUNDAY 7 JANUARY 2018 30 This Week Watching the destruction unfold Visual artist Maxine Attard will never take a walk in her neighbourhood again, she tells TEODOR RELJIC. Rampant urban development is the culprit, and her latest exhibition of works at The Mill in Birkirkara – entitled In Between Obliterations – is her creative response to the islands' ongoing crisis of uglification How would you describe your journey and development as an artist, and what have been some of the key motivating factors for your work so far? My development as an art practitioner was definitely not a straight line. I studied art histo- ry for my undergraduate degree in Malta mainly because there were no fine art courses avail- able back then but also because I was still unsure whether I want- ed to make art or write about others' work. During my stud- ies in art history, I still kept on developing my work, attended evening classes in figure draw- ing and participating in visual arts' projects. I found few individuals in Malta who believed in my work and they helped me persist and move on in developing it. How- ever, one of the main key moti- vating factors was definitely my studies in Brighton for an MA in Fine Arts. My tutors there were fully dedicated to us students. Their attention helped me fine- tune all my previous studies and practice into a line of thought which I am still building on to- day. Since after I finished my studies in Brighton, I have made a commitment with myself not to let anything demotivate me from continuing my practice. And this brings me to a second key motivating factor which is my constant travelling to art ex- hibitions and events around the world. They keep me up-to-date and maybe more importantly, fulfil my need to experience work of good quality. What is your favourite medium to work in, and why would you say this suits your aesthetic and thematic needs in particular? I have a tendency towards us- ing a certain group of materials such as paper and wood but I wouldn't say I have a favourite medium or material. However in many cases, it is the materi- als themselves that are often the starting point of my work. For example, I may notice that a particular kind of paint would work well with a particular kind of wood. I notice how these ma- terials catch the light and how they relate to one another. I am attracted to solid materials such as wood, paper and fabric. When I use paint, I mostly use industrial, oil-based paint which is very dense. Most of my work does not revolve around a particular theme, so the materials I use do not have any particular signifi- cance other than that which the viewer gives them. However in this exhibition, the main mate- rial – which is the debris that I collected from building sites – is central to the work and the whole exhibition. This series is what I call an offshoot from my main line of work. I am aware that my work is aesthetically attractive to some viewers and I tend to leave my work open to inter- pretation so that viewers can relate to it in many different ways. But when I am in the process of creating a work, I do not ponder about aesthet- ics, at least not consciously. For example, when I am creating a composition, all I think about is whether or not the composition is working for me. With In Between Obliterations, you're explicitly tackling some particularly Maltese approaches to urban development (to put it mildly). What motivated you to pursue this subject? The same anger and frus- tration that many people feel at seeing the country turn- ing into one big building site. Two particular moments were decisive in my making of this se- ries; my driving through a part of Malta which I hadn't been in a long time and being appalled by how much it changed, and a walk around my village one Sunday afternoon some months ago. It was supposed to be a re- laxing walk. I haven't taken an- other walk since then. Another motivating factor which turned out to be the starting point of this exhibi- tion and then its underlying factor is The Mill itself. In this exhibition, The Mill is as im- portant as the individual pieces "It is very attractive to think that art can lead a social or political movement of some sort but I don't think it can" Maxine Attard: "When I am in the process of creating a work, I do not ponder about aesthetics, at least not consciously..." In Between Obliterations is on display at The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara In Between Obliterations is on display at The Mill – Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara