Maxine Attard - In between Obliterations

IN BETWEEN OBLITERATIONS was held at The Mill: Art, Culture and Crafts Centre, Birkirkara, in January 2018.

It was supported by GABRIEL CARUANA FOUNDATION and GOZO ARTS.

The old limestone walls of The Mill in Birkirkara were the perfect backdrop for Maxine Attard’s works. Glass-fronted wooden frames filled with gravity-defying building debris arranged in neat rectangles.

The works bear Maxine’s hallmarks: gridlines and repetitive patterns. Only this time it is not delicate beads that she arranges. We are looking here at piles of debris, mounds of stone dust and soil, occasionally interspersed with man-made refuse. Maxine collected material from different building sites - these are remnants of the obliterations that have taken place as well as byproducts of the building activity that is going on.

These works are an artistic expression of Maxine’s anger about the destruction of the village of her childhood. The organic matter behind the glass contains her memories and those of the people that lived in those demolished houses. Her medium is an apt mixture of the past and the future.

Do these neatly organised rectangles of debris indicate the future? Are we going to face row upon row of crammed habitations with no more space to move, no more space to see beyond, no more space to breathe? Any individuality gone; uniformity ruling?

No, I do not want to believe that. There is a lot of positive in Maxine’s works. They are precious reminders of what we had and what is important, what we need and what we should treasure.

Go on, get yourself a piece of your heritage neatly arranged in a frame.

You can contact the artist on maxineattard.com or visit her Facebook page

If you want to learn more about Maxine's thoughts on these works read here