Culture
Local photographer Ritty Tacsum gives sneak peek of upcoming spell-binding exhibition
“The works are all representative of my life, my experiences and dreams.”

Martina Said

Experimental photographer Ritty Tacsum has a knack for spell-binding you with her work. The Maltese multimedia artist, who tells multi-layered stories through her moody style of photography, is about to launch a new solo exhibition this month, and to say we’re excited is an understatement.

As fans of her work and past exhibitions, we reached out to Ritty to understand what inspired her latest collection, called Where I Lay Down, which will be on display from 7th to 28th March at the Malta Society of Arts in Valletta, and curated by Lisa Gwen.

Ritty Tacsum

Ritty Tacsum

The body of work focuses on the sea and the bed, which, in her own words, are seemingly unrelated poles that lie at opposite ends of a spectrum, but which have been constants in her life and work.

Living on an island, it is easy to build a strong connection with the sea; and in my case, during various experiences of my life, it is one of the few places I’ve resorted to for solace and peace,” she says. “To some extent, I feel that it represents the way I am as a person; at times peaceful, at times strong.”

Ritty Tacsum

Ritty Tacsum

And the bed? “When I started out in photography, I was going through a difficult patch in my life, and I spent most of my time creating works in my own bedroom. Nowadays, the bed has different meanings to me: pain, love, joy – it is one of the only places where I find myself, over and over again.”

Ritty says that, to some extent, her work is autobiographical. “Some images are a clear depiction of an experience, others are simply a thought or a fantasy.”

Probably like asking whether you have a favourite child (the answer should be no?), I ask Ritty whether she has a favourite piece in the entire collection. “Being a very emotional body of work, I find it hard to choose one image from the collection. All the images have a different meaning to me, some stronger than others yet I consider each piece in this exhibition to be important.”

Ritty Tacsum

Ritty Tacsum

The collection is like a peephole into the photographer’s world. As Ritty explains, “visitors can expect a moody and personal experience; each diptych represents a fragment of an experience made visual. The works, although not placed in a particular timeline, are all representative of my life, my experiences, and dreams.”

Have you marked down the dates yet?

5th March 2019



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