“Carpe Diem” is the name of an exhibition at Vee Gee Bee Art Gallery in Republic Street, Valletta. Carpe Diem means make most of the moment you are living, or in a nutshell, “grab the day”.
“I related this to the Maltese countryside, our heritage, which we all know is in danger of being lost. This loss is all due to human carelessness, indifference and merciless and blind speculation. Our countryside is a delicate miracle of nature, where all is perfectly balanced to create a thyme-scented paradise, all to the credit of the Creator who is sublime and yet the most subtle artist,” Ms Dalmas said.
One must grab the day and grasp the moment to appreciate this gift of beauty that might soon be relegated to an ethereal dimension and nostalgic past. Hence, Carpe Diem.
“We paint best what we are most familiar with and I hope I managed to do justice to the countryside in my paintings. I looked up the old topographical names when giving a title to each painting,” the artist commented. These names are so fascinating and at the same time so down to earth. Some are surprisingly poetic, their meaning lost in time. Others describe in an uncompromising manner their past tenants with colourful descriptions.
Ms Dalmas uses Winsor & Newton acrylic as the preferred medium because it is fast and versatile. The paintings have a misty velvety look and are not merely photographic images. She tries to evoke the countryside, the dreamy atmosphere it communicates, and the fact that it has evolved silently and unendingly through the centuries. It always creates new emotions, which take root in the earth and push to the sky, like flowers that germinate from their seed and face the sun for the first time. “This eternal cycle must not be jeopardised by humans who have forgotten the message of the earth and the joy of finding beauty in simple things. Speculation has been disguised under the glorified name of ‘progress’,” Ms Dalmas added.
“I hope that through my paintings one can rediscover that communion with nature which will help us live rather then simply exist” Ms Dalmas concluded.
The exhibition, which closes on 21 May, is sponsored by BOV Ltd and the Marsovin Group.