The Malta Independent on Sunday
Beautiful Strangeness
The works of artist GABRIELLA AZZOPARDI have an ethereal, dreamlike feel about them. Looking at them, you are transported to another world… one which simply bursts with colour and a soothing sense of movement. Coryse Borg has a chat with this rather elusi
The first word that springs to mind while viewing Gabriella Azzopardi’s abundant artistic output is “versatile”. Her portfolio of work includes original paintings, portraits, detailed pencil and aquarelle drawings, promotional photography and photomontages, and even graphic and book design.
Gabriella’s works vary from abstracts to realistic or imaginative scenery. Her main painting style can be described as “visionary” or “surreal”, as most of her personal and original works depict otherworldly scenes and juxtapositions.
Her main media are acrylics and oils on canvas, which she thinks are the perfect way of realizing fine detail and perfect colour blends, although she also produces elaborate abstracts and pencil/graphite drawings. She is very meticulous about the fine detail in all her work.
Like many artists, Gabriella’s interest in the visual arts was evident in early childhood.
“From a very early age I was interested in classical art,” she says, “The detail and beauty of the human figure and classic portraits depicted by the greatest masters such as Caravaggio have always fascinated me.”
Gabriella started off her formal studies at the School of Art in Valletta where she took a course in Visual Art, moving on to continue her studies at the Emvin Cremona Art and Design centre in Valletta where she obtained a Diploma in Visual Communication and Design. After her diploma she furthered her studies in the history of art, photography and digital photo manipulation.
Gabriella honed her innate talent and developed her artistic skills by trying out different painting and drawing techniques, as well as practising from still lives, landscapes, architecture and figure drawing.
She was only a teenager when her first portrait was commissioned (the portrayal of a young boy) and it was this work-of-art which launched her artistic career. Ever the prolific hard-worker, she continued producing more of her original works while working on private commissions which began to pour in.
Since then, Gabriella has gone from strength to strength; she has taken part in various local collective exhibitions and has also showcased her works in three solo exhibitions so far.
Gabriella says that she admires the “strangeness” of Hieronymus Bosch and Rene Magritte and is fascinated by the detail of the PreRaphaelites and Baroque masterpieces.
Rather than explaining her work, she prefers to let the viewer conclude their own idea about the meanings behind her paintings. She admits to communicating her own perceptions through painting.
“The subjects I include are symbolical of my own thoughts and experiences, while others are snapshots from my dreams,” she explains. “I am fascinated by Malta’s beautiful architecture and heritage and enjoy including such gems in my paintings, blending them in my surreal landscapes.”
Gabriella’s works can be viewed during her current solo art exhibition at the RedWhite restaurant inside Palazzo Castelletti in Rabat, Malta until May. Straight afterwards, she will be working on her new collection of works and her next solo exhibition.
She is also currently working on setting up an online shop which will be selling professional prints of her original works. In the longterm, her wishes are to open her own personal art gallery and to exhibit her works abroad.