Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/963162
maltatoday SUNDAY 8 APRIL 2018 30 This Week Could you tell us a little bit about your background in the arts? I studied Fine Arts and Maltese at the University of Malta as part of the B.Ed (Hons.) course between 2011 and 2015. In these four years, I experimented with a plethora of artistic media, while writing poems and short stories in Maltese, some of which were published in Leħen il-Malti and Taħżiż publications. At heart, I always felt that I am more of a writer rather than a visual artist. However, in 2015 I decided to par- ticipate in the fourth edition of the annual art competition, Divergent Thinkers 04 with my installation piece entitled Social Kitchen, which eventually won first prize. While taking part in a number of col- lective exhibitions, such as Fram- menti (2015); Of Spatial Concerns (2016); In Transit (2017); Extant (2017) and Human Matter (2018), I continued my studies through the Masters of Fine Arts in Digital Arts (MFA, Melit.; 2017-2018). I also at- tended a very fruitful six-week art residency at the Virginia Centre for the Creative Arts in 2016 and another one in 2017 at the Malta School of Art for a duration of two weeks. In addition to Malta, some of my artworks were showcased in the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and the USA. After winning the Konkors ta' Kitba Letteratura għaż-Żgħażagħ 2016 with my manuscript Stessi, my childhood dream finally came true to work with the amazing team of Merlin Publishers. My debut novel is going to be published in the coming months of 2018. What are some of your key preoccupations when it comes to what you've been creating? Over the years, there was a move in my creative interests from the so-called traditional media (draw- ing, painting, photography) to more contemporary ones (mixed media, installation, digital art, per- formance art). This does not mean that I do not still make use of so- called traditional media at some point in my current artistic prac- tice. All of my recent art projects are conceptually-driven, where all factors are subservient to the main concept. I am very much interested in challenging traditions by creating art that may be seen as non-art, anti-art or some kind of a hybrid that cannot easily be pigeonholed under one established artistic field. Furthermore, I also intend to pro- duce work that alters roles usually assigned to art creators and art au- diences. Aspects such as interactiv- ity, participation, and relations are at the core of my latest art projects, where the spectator is active and, most of the time even becomes the artist. Appropriation from daily life, contemporary issues and popular culture act as catalysts in achieving what I have in mind in my creative process. At the end of the day, I am an observer. I observe what people are doing, what they are talking about, what they are interested in, especially at the moment. Ulti- mately, that is what inspires me. For example, I rarely take selfies (in fact, I do not remember the last time I did) but the theme interests me because selfies became some- thing vital for many individuals. How would you say your previous work has led to the kind of work showcased in this exhibition? My point of departure for every new project is that of creating something that is the total oppo- site of what I have done before. I do not like being repetitive and the thought that I am going to work on something "different" drives my in- terest further. Yet, there are always traces of similarities from previous works that continue to show up in my artistic creations. 'WiN' is a great case in point. It di- verges from my past works in that it does not deal with "them", "them" meaning society in general and its current preoccupations, but much more with the "me" and my herit- age. It delves into a very private, intimate experience: the life and death of my mother, Rose Schem- bri (1958-2015) and my relation- ship with her. This is what makes it very different from past creations because I have never artistically dealt with the interpersonal, at least in such a direct way. However, the concept of the lot- tery is an aspect taken from popu- lar culture that strongly shares the idea of widespread participation and relational aesthetics. The act of offering my late mother's personal belongings as prizes covered in gold serves as a way for me to further heal and move on, while by partici- pating, the public will give the items a new life, generating new synergies and stories. Moreover, this expe- rience is presented through the practices of mixed media and in- stallation – both very familiar to my artistic process. WiN clearly emerges from a very personal fount of bereavement. What led you to process these very powerful emotions in this particular way? Yes, one can say that this exhibi- tion was truly an inner, soul-search- ing journey. My mother was diag- nosed with terminal, stage IV bone cancer in September of 2015, after six years cancer-free from a breast cancer she had in 2009. Through- out these years, I took care of her and the thing that hurt the most was seeing her suffer like that. Los- ing her hair (twice) was extremely traumatic because it was the most important thing in the world for her – this is why photographs of her real hair are predominant in the design of 'WiN'. She eventually passed away dur- ing my Masters' course and my first reaction was to hide or not include this experience into my visual prac- tice. I tried my best to push it at the back of my mind and say that I am going to deal with it later. In fact, 'WiN' is the exhibition that I never wanted to do. This is because, as you can imagine, as much as it was an exercise of healing, it was painful beyond words to revisit the experi- ence – not only for me but also for my family. I had many ideas for this exhibition, but at the end of the day, this was something inevitable and only a question of time. There is no convenient timing to face such a loss in artistic terms. You just have to. I have always been inspired by art- ists who give their all to make their art and who are fearless in achiev- ing their artistic vision, like Yayoi Kusama, Marina Abramović, and Lady Gaga – just to name a few. A point that is vital for me is that I do not compromise artistic ideas for anything. Art must always remain at the forefront – the rest is second- ary. You have to remain very true to your creativity. I am not afraid to face any consequences – emotion- al, physical, economic or otherwise – if I truly believe in what I want to achieve. Of course, you have to pay a price (or many prices, in fact) for this, like in this exhibition. After coming across the works of artists dealing with the theme of mortality, such as Félix González- Torres, Sophie Calle, and Bill Viola, I started a research journal about all of this. Roland Barthes' Camera Lu- cida (1981), especially the second part of the book, was a pivotal work that helped me a lot through that time. Barthes' journey in the book – personal, literary and philosophi- cal – was almost an exact reflection of what I was going through. I still have this journal, of course, and it shows a change from a state where I was conscious and waiting – in various degrees and ways – for my mother's passing, the death itself and then the grieving process such an experience brings with it. Even- tually, it resulted in a vast body of work and I think that in it lies the genesis of 'WiN'. Another reason why I chose to go in this direction with this exhi- bition was the fact that due to the severity of her illness, my mother could not leave hospital to attend both the opening and the winner's ceremony of Divergent Thinkers 04. Thus, my first solo exhibition is not only dedicated to her, but she is the exhibition. Mostly, in the latter part of the artistic development of 'WiN', 'The Lottery', a short story by Shirley Jackson, had a great in- fluence on me. In this exhibition, spectators are encouraged to try to open with keys the fifty-seven (57) wooden boxes presented in the space, each holding an item that belonged to her. After I care- fully selected each object, I covered them with gold leaf, to point out their metaphoric preciousness. The number fifty-seven (57) is sig- nificant, echoing my mother's age when she passed away. What is it about your intensely personal experience that you would like to communicate to the visitors in the exhibition? In other words, what do you hope they will get out of it? It is understandable that relatives or people close to our family and strangers are going to experience the exhibition very differently. At least, I assume as much. Art is sub- jective and I wish to let everyone experience the exhibition in his or her own way – no matter how much it differs from my personal artistic vision. Some people may feel very emotional about what I am doing while others may want only to win something covered in real gold. Both are fine with me. The audience's interpretation is much more important than mine. How do you feel to form part of VIVA, and how would you describe its overall contribution to Up-and-coming artist and writer Matthew Schembri speaks to TEODOR RELJIC about his first solo exhibition, WiN, for which he draws on the raw memories of his recently deceased mother to create an immersive space that reflects on mourning and memory The rest is secondary