Those who have seen them claim they truly do exist, those who think they might have seen them doubtfully blame it on tricks of the eye, and those who have never ever seen them will wave it all away determinedly, yet somewhat sceptically. It is the stuff of ghosts, ghouls, fairies and spirits in all their forms, shapes and nuances. And once you step into this exhibition space, you can claim to have seen them all in fell swoop. This is the artwork of the American artist Susan Waitt.

I meet her several weeks before her exhibition launches, in an attempt to find out more about this curious if not uncanny choice of subject for an art exhibition. Waitt whose background includes working for Walt Disney and owning a thriving 'trompe l'oeil' business explains, "Back in the US I designed and created colourful children's board books, the ones kids cannot tear apart. It was not just about creating these books with images to attract children's attention, but about being able to render models out of the drawings in order to envision the physicality of each character. I also had my own business creating 'trompe l'oeil' effects in people's homes. When I relocated to Malta some nine years ago, I continued painting of course, and this solo is something I have been working on gradually over time."

Talking about the exhibition, she says, "It all began from the inspiration I gleaned during a ghost hunting expedition my friends and I experienced here in Malta. This fitted in well with my interest and research in consciousness studies, of how the mind extends beyond itself and connects with others in more ways than one. I am constantly aware of the possibility of digging deeper, going beyond appearances and delving into intriguing mysterious aspects of mundane reality. Having said that, the artworks presented through this exhibition are created to entertain, with a substantial tongue-in-cheek attitude throughout."

Indeed had Susan Waitt lived in the 19th Century, she would have fitted excellently in the fashion of that age where séances, spiritualism and the supernatural were all-time favourite topics to discuss over tea and cake,  with perhaps the invitation of  trying one's hand at the Ouija Board. And whilst Waitt's paintings are all merely painterly depictions of figments of imagination (or perhaps not),  yet all of the paintings can be sublimely ghostly or at least, somewhat eerie.

Some 22 works are exhibited, mostly oils on an acrylic base, and others uniquely created out of oils. The palette is generally dark to very dark, commensurate with the character and subject matter of the works. However the style is not consistent throughout and one gets the vivid indication that the collection seems to have been created over a number of years. Some paintings are reminiscent of theatrical backdrops which can be traced back to Waitt's skill at creating 'trompe l'oeil' effects.

Each painting, whatever its size, has a character to itself, at times rendered skilfully life-like, again thanks to the artist's ability to 'bring out' figures in a seemingly realistic manner. Consider 'The Bride', a painting which the artist herself claims to find disturbing. Even as she refers to the painting, Susan Waitt is reluctant to look too closely at the ghostly bride. Then again, Waitt speaks easily to explain another painting showing the face of a 'Tulpa'", or the totally unreal illusion of an apparition as Indian Buddhists describe it. The image looks uncannily realistic, as if ready to swirl out of the picture and attack the onlooker. Then there is Waitt's rendition of a 'Banshee' which Irish mythology describes as a female spirit who announces death by her shrieking and screeching - another great illusionary image which only misses out on the sound effects.

The entire collection of works is all about exciting the senses to allow a reactive psychological experience of the obscure, the supra-natural, the unknown. Nothing is clear-cut here, nothing is tangibly real. As the onlooker absorbs these images, he or she will wonder - in reality it is all an illusion, isn't it? Perhaps not. Still, Wait has a unique talent of giving tangibility to these passages in time and space, these 'tricks of the imagination', these surreal, otherworldly depictions. In order to supplement her exhibition the artist is presenting a handful of mini-events including talks,  cinematic/ video offerings, magical performances, tea leaf readings and auragraph making.  Because this is not just about paintings but also about reaching into the oblivion of what is, what was and what could be.

 

Susan Waitt's Night Gallery: The Uncanny & The Sublime - Saturday 29 October - Friday 25 November 2016 at  The Fortress Builders - Malta's Fortification Interpretation Centre, Triq San Mark, Valletta. Opening Hours: Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays 10:00 - 16:00 hrs; Tuesdays & Thursdays 10:00 - 19:00 hrs;
Saturdays 10:00 - 13:00 hrs.

 

Auxillary Events (Free entrance to all events):

Tuesday 8 November - 18:30 hrs-- The Science of Ghosts - presentation by Dr. P. Oltergeist.
Tuesday 15 November - 13:00 hrs -- Psychic Art and Auragraph - workshop with para-artist Susan Waitt.

Tuesday 22 November -19:00 hrs -- Victorian Magic Show /Seance by Malta's premier magician, Vanni Pule.