MALTA; April 2009

Malta

Overlay

The Atlantic Seaboard

Here are the 3 canvases of the Malta Triptych, with their individual titles.

'Overlay' Malta Triptych

Finally this is complete!

This is the first time I've attempted a triptych; if I'd have had had space, and a big enough studio, I would have loved to get 3 massive canvases, and splash loads of paint around on them. But; I had to also consider my quite slow working methods. Tackling 3 huge canvases would have taken me a long time, and so practicalities had to be taken into consideration. So it goes.

The 3 canvases are about my visit to Malta in 2009. As an archaeolgy fan, I enjoyed Malta enormously. All the temples; the museum/s; the exquisite archaeological carvings. It was a wonderful holiday, full of jolting bus journey's across the Maltese landscapes, fantastic food, and warm sun.

The stone carvings in the museum (and the replica's in situ at the temple sites), had many decorative connections to stone carvings I've seen at neolithic sites in the United Kingdom and Ireland. The spirals in particular, are found in Mediterranean Malta, as well as Orkney Scotland, and the Boyne Valley in Ireland.

Taking Lucy Lippard's book 'Overlay' as inspiration, I decided to title this work 'Overlay'; making explicit the artistic links of both cultures.