Over the past few months, Malta’s creative sector has had a lot of attention. And one thing has emerged: the role the island itself has on the formation of local artists. In various fields – sculpture, literature, film and visual arts, among others – practitioners have looked around them and have been stimulated by the textures and tastes of the archipelago. But how? We speak to illustrator Nadine Noko, visual artist Rupert Cefai and photographer Ritty Tacsum about their compelling work, and Malta’s place within their creative impulses. 

Rupert Cefai – Visual artist

Visual artist Rupert Cefai underlines the integral place Malta has in his work and his mindset. “I think everybody, to some degree or other, is the product of his own environment,” he explains. “You cannot escape the reality you live in. As an artist, you can choose to embrace it, to fight it, to challenge it, to criticise it, to deconstruct it and analyse it, even to ignore it but somewhere, even if at a subconscious level, it will leave its mark on you.” 

The imprint Malta has left on him was inevitable, according to Cefai. “Malta is the place I live, the place I have lived most of my life, I cannot escape its colours, its light, its architecture, its culture and sub-cultures.” Much of Cefai’s work deals with “what happens around us, crowds in streets, people in balconies, processions, places I visit regularly”. The form it takes – particularly in his paintings and the tears of colour streaming down the canvas – are studies in paint, ink, totems or abstractions; they are dramatic set-pieces with the power to dominate, penetrate and cement emotions. “I tend to capture a moment in time, a mood of an instant and transform it into something visually more tangible,” he explains. 

In doing so, Cefai is not afraid to cross boundaries. His upcoming collections traverse the confines of material and subject matter, adopting a questioning attitude to the changes being inflicted on the island’s environment. “Recently, I am finding myself being more critical of our own relationship with the environment we create, the images, the icons and symbols that we tend to identify with. This is also another way to react to our environment,” he says. The human – and the humane – remain at the heart of this work: one of the collections was “inspired by workmen on building sites” and uses materials, images and colours found on construction sites; while the other tries to explore the complex, and thorny, subject of identity, tackling what “symbols and icons of identity really mean.”

Ritty Tacsum - Photographer

The images in Ritty Tacsum’s experimental photographic work and her multi-media conceptions also examine the symbolism embedded within Maltese society and its landscape. “I think my Maltese-ness seeps through my work all the time,” she says, going on to describe her architectural landscapes, and her images featuring double or multiple exposures as examples. “Our streetscapes, skylines, our stone and the Mediterranean light are all reflected in this work,” she explains. “I think it’s inevitable that Malta forms part of one’s artistic identity. Being born and raised on an island, with plentiful charms and distinct characteristics, with its traditions and rituals, has affected the way I look at and experience things.”

The sea is a recurring theme – “an element which has remained a constant in my work” – as is the subject of religion, in its devotional aspects – “probably a reflection of the fact that I was raised in a very Catholic family”. But this, she explains, is simply the end result of the myriad influences impacting on the psychology of an individual born and bred on an island such as Malta. “Irrespective of personal beliefs, the iconography, the visuals I grew up with, stayed with me,” she states. 

For it is the connections with people and the land itself which have continuously motivated the photographer. “Although I’m not the most sociable of characters, I believe in establishing a human connection,” she says. “Subconsciously, we are always being influenced by our surroundings, even though it may not be immediately apparent in one’s work, there is always some connection at the root and heart of it.”

Nadine Noko - Illustrator

 “I’m very much inspired by my surroundings,” illustrator Nadine Noko states. “I always carry a sketchbook and phone and sketch or take a photo of anything that catches my attention.” Her work – a playful kaleidoscope of intimate Maltese details and quintessential landscapes – is a riot of colours, with an almost picaresque tonal quality. 

“I feel like I’m in a zoo, constantly observing. The natural light, colours and textures of the space are very much part of my work and identity at the moment,” she explains. But, notwithstanding the whimsy seen on the surface of much of her work, Noko’s vision digs deeper into the Maltese psyche - “I’m very much interested in our duality. How we can swear and pray at the same time” – as well as the islanders’ quirks - “our little ticks, like how we drink our cappuccinos and how we drive; the tattoos we have, our shapes and attitudes towards space or lack of it. These are all showcased in my work. I’m a bit like a yellow marker pen, highlighting what I see,” she describes.

Yet, Noko sees a difference to the way the island has been the source of inspiration and the way it has affected her creative process. “Malta is not as hectic as most of the major cities. It is very much like a small village in England or any other country. So, you have the time to experiment with your work and time to meet up with friends and family. Also, the tapestry of weather, light and different textures can be used in your work,” she adds.