Author: Sara

This week I was in Prague, Czech Republic, representing Malta as the selected artist to create a collaborative artwork for the project of the Wall of Freedom and Energy on the Lennon Wall in the Malá Strana. This event was organised to celebrate the Presidency of the Czech Republic of the European Council, curated by local artist and curator Pavel Šťastný. A total of 27 artists from 27 European countries, along with two specially invited artists from Norway and Ukraine, visited Prague to add their own unique motif to the wall on the 7th of September 2022. The event was partly hosted and supported by the Mozart Hotel, Prague.

The work I proposed and created on site took inspiration from the oldest tree in Prague, with a figure seated below it, that becomes part of the tree roots itself. The tree for me is a symbol of growth, permanence and link to our European heritage. The tree symbol represents the hope of a return to the respect of and for nature. The figure below the tree symbolizes a thinker who’s lost track of time and is daydreaming. These dreams are to be shown through the symbols of peace from different cultures to represent the multiculturalism of Europe. Highlighting the diversity we are surrounded by and which makes our cities so vibrant, it’s a symbol of hope towards what we can all strive for.

Having peace; freedom of person and mind is achieved, hence the dove which unites both. Along with these symbols, the Cross of the Knights of Malta, was partially drawn, linking the Knights of St John, as the owners of the wall and their historical legacy with Malta. To complete the artwork I decided to use a blue vortex, that represents the sea we are surrounded by, as a background element, as I wanted to imbue the work with energy, since it’s one of the main themes of this project.

The collaboration between Sara Pace Artist and Eco Marine Malta started out around a year and a half ago from a shared passion for the sea and a deep respect for nature in general. Having an environmental science background Sara used it to her advantage to work closely with marine biologist Patrizia Patti in creating projects that linked art and science. The first event in which they participated together was for the Start-Up weekend at SmartCity in February 2017, during this event Eco Marine Malta was first launched and presented to a network of investors and possible partners.

Together they have continued exploring the possibilities of combining their professional backgrounds into creative scientific projects, applying for international events, such as Our Ocean conference in 2017 and the European Maritime Day in May 2018. They have also applied with a collaborative project for Science in the City 2018.

For European Maritime Day they also combined their energies to launch a students’ competition and exhibition for local primary and secondary school students. The competition was circulated in all local schools with a number opting to participate. The works were then exhibited at two separate events, first at the European MaritimeEvent held by EcoMarine Malta at Ghadira Bay in conjunction with Birdlife Malta and also having as guest speaker Carmen Mifsud. The works were then exhibited again for the World Ocean Day event at the Malta National Aquarium. The best works were selected by a panel made up of Sara Pace, Patrizia Patti and Serena Lagorio, with the winning students being given prizes and certificates, certificates of participation were also given to each student who took part, these were distributed at their particular schools.

#ecomarinemalta #ecomalta #artandscience #contemporaryartist #malta #artistandmarinebiologistcollaboration

I have been intrigued by Alice in Wonderland ever since I was a young girl and happened to come across the Disney film being shown on Italian television. Being a Maltese kid in the 90s it was the norm for us to watch TV in Italian – learning the language in the process, and getting to see the latest in Disney films, Japanese cartoons and Art Attack in Italian! Since unfortunately at the time there wasn’t much available on Maltese telly (can’t say there is much on offer nowadays either, really) – but I am getting side-tracked here. So back to Alice in Wonderland, the Disney film was my first taste of it, and I was hooked; the girl falling through a hole, into a vibrant colourful world with the barking pansies (have called them dog-faced flowers ever since), a talking and smoking caterpillar and a cruel queen was the tops! I am also a big fan of 60’s music and Alice seems to have been a hit back then too – such as Jefferson Airplane’s ‘White Rabbit’ and the Beatles ‘I am the Walrus’, thus I must say my influence is coming from several different founts of inspiration!

So why am I writing about Alice in Wonderland in this blog post? Earlier in February this year, a friend and lecturer of mine, Gorg Mallia, posted an image on facebook showcasing his first year students’ work on an assignment he’d given them to re interpret Alice in Wonderland. As soon as I saw it I was in love with the work presented, little did I need the prompting by Simon Callus (fellow MFA colleague) to do our own reinterpretation! This led to two weeks of sketching and reinterpreting an idea I got while invigilating a form 1 English Language exam at the school where I work at. The work was completed in pencil, watercolour and photomontage with digital painting. In a way I am still mulling to do it in other ways, but maybe more on that soon! In the meantime, I hope you’ll enjoy this work  🙂

The idea was developed after reading this excerpt from The Nursery “Alice”:

“And do you see its long nose and chin?

At least, they look exactly like a nose and chin, don’t they?

But they really are two of its legs.

You know a Caterpillar has got quantities of legs: you can see some more of them, further down.”

So here are the works:

Your comments and thoughts are always very much appreciated!

Till the next one

Sara xx

In April 2017 one of my Art Students at the school where I teach won a competition organised by the St Vincent De Paul Home for the Elderly in Luqa Malta. Due to winning this competition our school was tasked with creating a project with the elderly, in which our students and the elderly would share moments of learning and engagement.

Being the teacher heading this project I asked a number of my colleagues, who through their specific subjects already work with themes that concern the elderly, to help me create a sustainable project. The Health and Social Care teachers, together with the Home Economics teacher and I came up with a 2 day project in which students could interact, help and teach the elderly about how to keep themselves fit, eat more healthily as well as use contemporary technology to keep themselves entertained!

Thanks to the help of the Sliema Local Council we made contact with the elderly in the community where our school is situated. During the two separate days, once at the Sliema Day Care Centre and once at the St Vincent De Paul home for the elderly, we showed the elderly how to use tablets and mobiles with Drawing Apps to draw flowers. We also showed them how to keep fit with specific exercises and what’s best to eat, according to the diet different people need to follow. This project enabled to bridge the gap between today’s youngsters and the elderly who are still valuable to our community.

This year I was awarded the Residency+ programme at the Burren College of Art in Ballyvaughan co.Clare, Ireland. The award I won was funded by the Arts Council in Malta through the Cultural Export Fund for artists who wish to travel and explore their art further afield. I chose to revisit the Burren College of Art, as this was a space in which I found myself during the two times that I had visited before for Summer Workshops. Returning to the space for a whole month was a dream come true, since the area offers breathtaking natural views and a warm and highly invested group of people run the college. The people of the area have always been welcoming and ready to share their thoughts in a comfortable and down to earth manner. I also needed a month to my own thoughts, as felt that this was the ideal place to let myself free to explore on an artistic level.

I started the residency by writing about my thoughts and experiences in a journal, I was primarily looking to reconnect with past friendships, as well as to meet new people, but I was also focused on listening to own voice. Having met with my mentor for the Residency+ programme, Ruby Wallis, I discussed with her where I saw the work going, as well as the projects that I had just completed in Malta, prior to my arrival for the Residency+. Through our discussions I was guided to different artists as well as exhibitions which where taking place around Ireland at the time. Notably the Culture Night exhibitions which took place on Friday 22nd September. I was also given the opportunity to present the Min Hu l-Malti? Project during a poetry reading night within the College Tower, as well as during lectures about artists who have dealt with migration through their art for the Undergraduate students studying at the College.

I spent the residency working within the Barn studios, along with other artists in residence from the Alumni Residency Programme. My work during the residency fluctuated between long walks in the Burren, with just my camera and tripod, recording the space and my interaction with it. I was also focused on collecting small objects suck as gnarly sticks, washed up shells and particular stones. My focus started to turn towards the liminal space that is created through the effects of the rain and fog on the stones that make up the Burren and the beaches the run down to the ocean. The soft roundness of the the fog as it rolled over the round tipped mountains and silently reached the shores to dissipate caught my imagination, as it felt like the land was being caressed by water in all senses. I was also exploring the various caves that run beneath the Burren, again being formed by underground rivers in this karst landscape.

The effect of water touching and changing objects caught my interest, and thus I started studying how objects looked inside and outside of water, how water changed their colour and effected their textures, at times wearing them down. This effect I sought to bring out through drawings and photography. The effect of water was inseparably linked to light, as with the rain and clouds the colours of objects invariably changed, sometimes becoming brighter, whilst at other times becoming muted. I experimented with charcoal textures and un-marking to play on the sense of intangibility that low clouds hiding geographical spots was having on me. Creating visual metaphors of the space that I was surrounded by, finding that the smallest of objects and changes held my fascination.

During the last week of the Residency we held an open studio exhibition at the Barn Studios, for all the students and visitors to the College, where the work in progress was shown and discussed.

I have been working with Pam Baldacchino, artist-in-residence and project leader of Deep Shelter, on a series of works for the Sir Anthony Mamo Oncology Centre in Malta. We’ve been collaborating together through a series of outside and studio based workshops since August 2016.

We started out by conducting an outside workshop which consisted of walking along the cliff side from Bahrija, following a trail leading down towards the sea. We were focusing on our physical abilities to walk along daunting and sometimes perilous edges, feeling the movement of our bodies and the guidance of our senses. We noticed how much the human being relies upon the senses, both for beauty and pleasure, but also to ensure our safety. These are natural functions, that we at times forget.

Once we’d arrived at the pre-planned stop, a plateau, we spent time exploring the space, but also meditating, absorbing the sense of peace caused by the natural silence of the space. We sketched the undulations of the rocks, seeking out the soft and hard textures created by the effect of the wind on the soft limestone. We also sought out the movement of the wind upon the sea surface, creating waves and the reflections in the water. We both gravitated towards the idea of representation using natural objects and reflecting the natural spaces.

From then on, we’ve been working between our two studios, again playing with the idea of the ‘outside in’, since this was the culmination of our outside workshop, that we wished to bring the outside in, for the patients and their families, while during their therapy sessions at the Oncology Centre. We’d visited the space on a number of times, seeing where the works would fit best, and how to create works which all could identify with.

The keywords were: natural, reflection, movement and texture.

I have just completed an assignment for a Nature Photography Course that I was taking at the Centre for Liberal Arts at the University of Malta. Along with this course I was also following two other courses about Marine Environment and Environmental Issues and Challenges.

The sea has always been a center of inspiration for me, having grown up by the shores of the Mediterranean, imagining that I was the daughter of the sea whilst free diving, playing in rock pools thinking of mermaids, snorkeling with my father, the sea has always captivated me. So much so that it features many times in my artwork, either through painting or photography.

In this assignment I wanted to bring out the beauty of creatures that are Washed Ashore by the lapping waves, and which for one reason or another are stuck and unable to return to sea. These creatures are sometimes seen as fearful – due to their possibility to poison or sting, but here on the shore they seem so helpless, and so immeasurably beautiful.

Even if the last two photos do not depict creatures that were literally washed ashore, their figurative washing up in my rooms and remaining dead there meant that I added them to this panel of photos.