About me....
I work mainly in dry and waterbased media, sometimes mixing them together to get the effects I want. I like to work on site, and am fascinated by trying to catch elusive movement, light effects or transient feelings. I do a lot work at concerts with live musicians and at dance performances – it’s not just the figures that fascinate me, but also the fact that everything is connected by the invisible but tangible threads of sound, intention and sheer human effort.
One of my recurrent and favourite themes has long been the Maltese Prehistoric Temples, which predate the Pyramids of Egypt and are the oldest standing structures in the World. They too, are mysteriously imbued with the same qualities of sound, intention and extraordinary human effort.
When I am working on-site in the Temples I initially approach things in an almost illustrative way. I find this very meditative and calming. Working in this way I can easily slip into a trance-like state and let impressions, visible and invisible, soak into me. Back in the studio, I surround myself with all the information I have gathered – drawings, paintings, colour notes, written ideas. I don’t usually use photographs as, for me, they are too literal and two dimensional.
Sometimes something will percolate through straight away, but quite often the material needs to ’cook’, so I try not to think about it and work on something else.
All the most powerful works seem to happen almost by accident. Some strange alchemy takes place and they seem to paint themselves somehow, using me as a channel. I am often surprised and stunned when I stand back and look at what I have done. Often there are shapes, shadows, even vague figures that have appeared and made themselves visible.
The human race needs to listen carefully to the whispers still echoing through these ancient structures and use their messages to care for our fragile environment before it is too late.
One of my recurrent and favourite themes has long been the Maltese Prehistoric Temples, which predate the Pyramids of Egypt and are the oldest standing structures in the World. They too, are mysteriously imbued with the same qualities of sound, intention and extraordinary human effort.
When I am working on-site in the Temples I initially approach things in an almost illustrative way. I find this very meditative and calming. Working in this way I can easily slip into a trance-like state and let impressions, visible and invisible, soak into me. Back in the studio, I surround myself with all the information I have gathered – drawings, paintings, colour notes, written ideas. I don’t usually use photographs as, for me, they are too literal and two dimensional.
Sometimes something will percolate through straight away, but quite often the material needs to ’cook’, so I try not to think about it and work on something else.
All the most powerful works seem to happen almost by accident. Some strange alchemy takes place and they seem to paint themselves somehow, using me as a channel. I am often surprised and stunned when I stand back and look at what I have done. Often there are shapes, shadows, even vague figures that have appeared and made themselves visible.
The human race needs to listen carefully to the whispers still echoing through these ancient structures and use their messages to care for our fragile environment before it is too late.
Copyright (C) Jeni Caruana 2013. All images on this site are the property of Jeni Caruana