This local artist uses cartoons to create a parallel view of typical Maltese scenes
Malta through the eyes of David Kostap.
Digital collage artist David Kostap is the creative mind behind local Instagram account OtherMalta - a unique platform through which he shares a distinctly parallel view of typical Maltese scenes. Enthralled by the whimsical characters, we catch up with him to discover what the project is all about.
"Other Malta started as my own personal account on Instagram. My intention was to improve my skills in digital collage art. I used to choose my own photographs of random Maltese views for my works, while mixing them with equally random cartoon characters. This was done with the aim to push my own creativity to the limit," he explains.
"Along the way, however, I started to give more thought to the process of mixing different ‘realities’, seeing how they match together. That’s when different people started to show appreciation for my personal project and at that point, I decided to take this project to the next level."
What’s your mission? What do you want your viewers to notice when looking at your art?
"I’ve made an attempt to describe my own work and this is what I came up with: ‘Maltese views and experiences, mixed with different ‘other’ scenes and characters from different dimensions or realities. That is how the name ‘Other Malta’ was born," he maintains.
"In essence, the mission of Other Malta hasn’t changed since inception. Up till now, it remains a project that showcases the journey of an amateur artist. What has been added on top of it, however, is the revelation that apart from myself, there are many other people in Malta who would be happy to see their beloved island presented in a somewhat quirky, funny way… in a different light," David continues.
Where do you get your wacky ideas from? What inspires you to see Malta in such a way?
"I start creating these artworks after 9pm almost every day, and that’s when I switch to my ‘creative mode’. Most of the time, each new artwork starts with me browsing through online photos of Malta. After a while, I turn to Pinterest to hunt down creative inspiration and characters. I try to create stories in my mind, until the character clicks into one story. Then I start creating."
"Some stories and future artworks though are created in my mind spontaneously during the day. Sometimes it is enough for me to simply read a headline or notice something on the street, and the idea starts dancing in my head. That’s when I tend to take all the time needed to nail the story by carefully choosing each and every piece of my future artwork," he says.
What’s your connection to the superimposed characters? Do they steer up childhood memories?
"I guess I simply never tried to distance myself from animated characters and cartoons while growing up. There are a tonne of old and new animated series which gave me more value, more positive emotions and sometimes more brainfood compared to some movies or even books. As a result, my interest in animated stories and characters didn’t fade away but rather transformed into an art form in its own right."
Do you have a mascot? Is there one character you will feature over and over?
"Other Malta doesn’t have a mascot at this point, but this is something that I would like to work on and develop in the future. Who knows, perhaps it will be created in collaboration with one of the local artists? Time will tell."
What can we expect from David Kostap and Other Malta in the future?
"You can expect Other Malta to start offering locally printed and framed artworks as well as some other product lines in the near future," David says, adding, "I think that it is safe to say that you can also expect more collaborations between Other Malta and other creative people on the island. I have already ‘produced’ a couple of artworks in collaboration with local photographers and have enjoyed this process a lot" - we can't wait!
Finally, he adds, "if I had to look even further into the future, the long term goal of Other Malta would be to create an environment where it would be easy to start connecting creative people around the islands and create new sparks of creativity in them via constant collaborations. We are yet to discover a clear way for this goal to be reached, but some ideas are already swivelling in our heads. So, stay tuned!"