Isabella Zammit

Artist Interview

What medium do you work with, and why have you chosen them?

Painting has always been my final outcome, but experimenting with drawing, sculpture and performance allows me to never be tied up focusing on one thing. Exploring these other mediums guides me to new subject matter. The painting is only a small part of it.

How does your artwork get from initial concept to exhibition stage?

Usually the works start with a sketch. I design sculptures and objects by playing with gouache on paper. Sometimes I write down little character descriptions and visualise forms from there. Then I create those objects with clay, fabric, stuffing, wood or other found materials. The objects range from humanoid to abstract. The next stage is performing, interacting with those forms and turning them into 'Performing Objects' where exchanges between the objects and myself are filmed. I like to paint works based on these interactions. The connection between human and humanoid objects is often absurd and humorous to me. Painting finalises the whole process and blends these elements together – I can physically blur the boundaries between my own body and the objects, between us and our surroundings. At exhibition all the stages of this process can be displayed: the videos, objects, paintings; and they all collapse into each other.

Can you tell us a little more about your creative working environment/studio?

I'm often surrounded in organised chaos: paper, sketches, my notebook, designs and paintings I'm not happy with. My performing objects (sculptures) are there too, piled on top of each other or sitting in the corner chair. I move them around as I work. Sometimes I can work for days in a frenzy, and other times it's a forced commitment to put brush to paper.