Me in place and the place in me
I had my existence. I was there.
Me in place and the place in me.
Where can it be found again,
An elsewhere world, beyond
Maps and atlases.
from A Herbal by Seamus Heaney
Me in Place and the Place in Me brings together four interconnected projects that explore my relationship with my homeland, Malta.
I moved to London at the age of 19, a year before Malta joined the EU. Returning last year after 22 years away, a homecoming that has become central to my practice. I left on the cusp of teenagehood and returned as a mother, at the threshold of middle age. It was a time of rapid change for Malta and this work struggles with this, expressing loss, hope, and the deep spiritual connection I feel for the islands.
I have been exploring memory and time, centering my body as both subject and tool. Made with care and time, using humble materials, this work is infused with nostalgia; depicting an intimate interconnectedness between body, self and landscape.
In 2009 I drew a map of Malta from memory, I unknowingly captured a moment in time before the recent construction boom: Malta drawn on the threshold of rapid transformation, preserving both personal and collective memories of a distant homeland.
Placing my body within, around, and among the rock formations of Malta. Through simple, performative gestures — hugging the rocks, sitting with them — I express childlike delight and a desire not merely to be in the landscape, but to be part of it and held by it.
Themes of support and containment appear throughout.
Reflecting on motherhood, I envisioned myself as a sea rock, shaped by waves, transforming, yet strong, unmoving. I was being weathered — yet still I was a rock.
This vision speaks to a longing to move beyond the limits of the human body and a single lifetime, and to connect instead with geological time, aligning myself with something ancient and enduring. This led to a series of anthropomorphic sculptures that merge human and rock-like forms. Precariously balanced on makeshift stools - used by the local fishing community to hold boats steady on land – representing support: ancestors, community, parents.
