With no formal training in the discipline, Lisa feels she was born to be an artist and feels the need to employ her artistic ability and use it to express herself within a visual medium. Her work exudes a sensitivity to the world and an ability to translate a simple event into something deeply thought-provoking.

The artist believes the best art has something to say, it sends out a message of some sort, and if it does not succeed in doing this, it is not worth calling art. Her art illustrates her thoughts and feelings about particular events or topics. The messages she sends are made relatively straightforward through the shrewd titles of the pieces exhibited.

Her art has been previously described as “macabre” and “melancholic”. When questioned on this, Lisa said that she does not feel the urge to paint happy things. She does not intentionally paint dismal subjects but intelligently makes a clear distinction between positivity and happiness. She feels “happy” paintings are simply decoration for decoration’s sake. This does not satisfy her artistic integrity – she wants her work to carry more emotional and intellectual weight. Although a number of the pieces in this collection do contain a somewhat mournful message, this is captured in such a sardonic and perceptive manner that one is moved to contemplate the works with a knowing nod.

Doe-eyed figures dominate Lisa’s depiction of people. They exude fragility with a powerful lashing of strength.

One of the most effective pieces is entitled Too Poor to Afford the Operation. This shows a pair of siamese twins joined at the little finger. One of the figures is seen holding a pair of scissors, ready to separate herself from her sibling. The red background of the piece brings forth the power of the message along with the ironic touch of the emergency kit in the background.

11th September 2001 is another work that captures the artist’s original approach to life’s situations. On hearing the title, one would imagine a picture of horror and pain, yet Lisa decided to take a different approach that is undoubtedly more effective. In the piece, two children have built two towers out of blocks and the girl is aiming a toy plane at one of them, while the boy in the picture is crying. The effect produced is less obvious and more intrinsic. It succeeds in encapsulating the futility of the event and all the lives that were lost.

The theme of social ostracism runs through a number of pieces in the collection. Works like Too Fat To Fly, He’s So Ugly and Best Friends show how supposed friends can adversely affect young people. In each piece, one figure is depicted as the outsider, bringing to light the idea of social seclusion. The figures are painted on separate panels which adds to the idea of fragmentation and segregation.

The work entitled The Mischievous Muse is light-hearted but exposes the frustrating and very serious feeling of writer’s block. The muse in the shell at the top of the painting is very elegantly executed and the flightiness of it further emphasises the artist’s desperation to produce a good piece of work.

Lisa’s interest in book illustration shines through a series of pieces in her latest collection. A work like Sewing His Shadow Back On: Peter Pan is one example of this passion. The artist said that illustrating is one of the many ways forward she envisions for herself in the artistic world. To her, art is another form of story-telling and this field would give her artistic and integral satisfaction.

The figures in Lisa Falzon’s collection are fragile yet, at the same time, somehow manage to exude power. The pieces are original and almost startling, they are the medium the artist uses to express herself and come to terms with her feelings and life in general. Lisa uses her art to make a statement and show the world exactly what she wants to say.

The collection has been exhibited at Vee Gee Bee in Valletta. To discover more about Lisa’s fascinating style and get a deeper understanding of her work, visit www.lisafalzon.com.