The past year has been quite rough for beloved local academic and veteran visual artist Gorg Mallia. Despite a hard-hitting blow that threatened to marr his future, Gorg poured his grief into his art and channeled his emotions through beautiful and soul-blaringly intimate prose on his personal blog.

His regular heartfelt postings caught the attention of those who had grown accustomed to his warm smile and ever sunny demeanour. As is often the case, suffering fuels the creative spirit and his digital abstractions, created in the aftermath of tragedy and heartbreak, have caught the eye of Buzzfeed.

You've guessed it, his story and his art have now made it all the way across the pond, with Gorg's work featured on the viral American internet media portal. In a public post on his Facebook page, the scholar explains how a Buzzfeed writer had reached out to him after coming across his paintings: "Cool stuff...he sent me a set of questions about them. And he posted this on Buzzfeed. The more diffused the better, I say " he wrote.

 Now on the brink of a new year and a fresh decade, Gorg has continued painting well into the last few days of 2019: "Here's to desiring life over death, and happiness over this insane sadness that has taken over that life!" And to that we shall drink tonight, sir!

Check out Buzzfeed's article here.