Francesca Balzan delves deeper about her upcoming exhibition ‘Impossible Conversations’

Fran Balzan with some of her terracotta works

Can you tell us more about your upcoming exhibition Impossible Conversations?

Impossible Conversations is my first solo exhibition of sculpture. It consists of a number of busts made of painted terracotta, inspired by the people of the Ta’ Liesse area. When Justine Balzan Demajo first floated the idea of a solo exhibition at her independent art space, Studio 87 on the Liesse Hill, I thought I could work with the site. My undergrad thesis was about the harbours of Valletta so I had some knowledge of what a bustling, mercantile area the ta’ Liesse hill was in the past. It was also a point of arrival and departure for sailors and travellers. Bearing this in mind I did research about the area and consulted the passport applications of a century ago to find the actual people who lived and worked, and passed through the area on their way to their travels. I selected a number of persons from different periods and recreated them, not in formal portraits, but in whimsical sculptures that captured their spirit and told their story in a more direct way. 

The exhibition is curated by Justine Balzan Demajo, with whom I have been in constant contact throughout the year I was researching and working on the sculptures and this is the ideal artist-curator relationship wherein the curator is involved from the early stages and helps shape the conversation. The sculptures are displayed in groupings that create conversations. They are ‘impossible conversations’ as these are people who came from different time periods and could have never met in reality, hence the title of the exhibition: Impossible Conversations.

Fran Balzan, 'Il Marilyn ta' Malta', terracotta, 35cm (h), photo by Lisa Attard

Your work often encapsulates different identities, what do you intend to capture when creating/recreating these personalities?

I try to capture spirit rather than a very laboured and stiff portrait. I want the sculptures to appear to speak and to capture the viewers attention, engage the viewer and suggest stories of who this character may have been. Stories are very important to me and frequently I will write very brief stories to flesh out the basic facts I know about each real-life character. These fictive stories are very much part and parcel of the art work. I’ve often been asked why I only sculpt men. This is not true and certainly not for this exhibition where I have a number of women from all walks of life. The subtext though is a modern one – the women have agency, they have self-determination, they control their destiny and are not objects of mere decoration or subjugation. Female empowerment even if wishfully projected on to the past, is very much a present and important theme for my art. 

What is the process behind this collection and how does it differ from previous works and exhibitions?

I started the research on the passport applications in the National Archives of Malta back in January 2021. After a period of research that also included finding figures right up to our time from different sources, I was able to start modelling the sculptures in clay based on this research. The process of creating a sculpture from start to finish lasts at least a month per sculpture, frequently more than that. During that time I am thinking about the story of the person I am recreating and I embellish the sculpture accordingly in order to transmit this story. 

Unlike my previous exhibits in other exhibitions, this collection consists of my largest sculptures to date featuring busts rather than the heads I am better known for. As these busts include the top part of the chest, I could detail costume and accessories which helps the viewer understand what period I am representing. It is also an excuse for introducing colour! They are unusually installed on repurposed furniture that evokes time gone by, but that is given a contemporary twist by being painted one colour only. This unusual display was proposed and driven by the curator and I’m particularly happy how it has turned out. In addition there will be an element of sound that the viewer can engage with. 

Fran Balzan, 'Isn't it ironic_' terracotta, 32cm (h), photo by Lisa Attard

What do you aspire to achieve throughout your artistic career?

That’s a tough question to answer. I guess I want to keep questioning, keep searching, keep pushing my favoured material – at present, clay – to its material limit, challenging established practices and finding new solutions to push me into new aesthetic solutions. I want to keep discovering and breaking new ground. I will keep working on people, their stories and faces in particular and although recognition is important, the only recognition that really counts is your own. Believing in your art and continuing to show it, is important even if difficult.

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