Lisa Galea and myself were colleagues for many years at The Malta Independent. It was not difficult for me to soon discover that she is a complete creative. She applies herself heart and soul to whatever she is undertaking.
She attempts and succeeds in doing things like ganutel. It is difficult for me to forget those delicate ganutel flowers of years back which she had shown me and I had admired, one lunchtime of many mango seasons ago.
One day Lisa came with something carefully wrapped up and handed it to me. It turned out to be a very pretty ceramic bowl, handpainted with leaves and flowers. She had explained to me that it was one of her latest creations. I am still using it and no one else is allowed to touch it, or indeed wash it. Lisa made it especially for me and I cherish it.
Yes, she is a creative with a mind bursting with ideas.
I eventually retired, well sort of, and she left to continue with her studies but we remained in touch.
The next thing I know she is organising an exhibition at Bizzilla Art Gallery in Floriana. Will she ever stop coming up with ideas?
Stepping into Lisa Galea's exhibition is like entering a space where emotion takes precedence over explanation. Although her interview with me published in this paper last Sunday offered insight into her process and philosophy, as one of those who went to the opening told me, the physical encounter with the works reveals something more elusive: a visceral, almost spiritual resonance that words cannot fully capture. In a world saturated with commentary and interpretation, this silence is radical.
The exhibition's title In the Absence of Words becomes a lived experience. Silence is not just the condition of creation - it's the invitation extended to the audience. The works do not demand understanding; they offer refuge. In this quiet, colour becomes language, texture becomes voice, and the gallery becomes a sanctuary for emotional clarity.
One standout piece, Life and Death, exemplifies this ethos. Born from the burial of a painful earlier work, it radiates with symbolic hues - crimson for birth, black for death, gold for rebirth, as Lisa explained . Yet even this symbolism is not prescriptive. The painting's power lies in its openness, its ability to hold multiple truths simultaneously.
In the Absence of Words is not just an exhibition - it's a moment of pause in a noisy world. It invites us to listen differently, to feel more deeply, and perhaps, to rediscover the honesty of silence.
As I get older and older, silence has become a great friend as much as stairs have become an enemy. I seek silence whenever possible. I understand Lisa, who is only as old as my eldest darling, that she has chosen to paint in silence. The result is quite stunning.
Don't miss this interesting exhibition at Bizzilla Art Gallery, Triq il-Mall, Floriana. It will remain open until 27 November
Monday-Thursday:9am-5pm; Friday 9am-3pm.
www.lisa-art.com