Murals Larger than Life

One can say that Art has meticulously found its way to being linked with science and technology and skilled artists have brought to live some amazing pieces that express both imagination and talent.

Villa Bighi has embraced this form of art to transpire within its historical and prestigious walls to bridge the beauty of art, history and science. For this journey of discovery and harmonisation between the worlds of art and science, Dominique Ciancio, a freelance artist working between three small studios in Malta, Gozo and Norway was selected to create murals for Villa Bighi.

After graduating in History of Art and Philosophy at the University of Malta in 2004, he worked with theatre and film. In 2005 he joined the Art Department at Universal Studios Inc. and worked on productions with notable film directors such as Steven Spielberg.  Gradually, he shifted his creative focus to a series of interdisciplinary projects combining picture and sound art. Some notable collaborations with UK sound artist Justin Wiggan include; The Idiot, Factotum, USA in 2013 and Sword Fighting Jazz, Birmingham, UK in 2014. Other solo projects amongst many include; 2010 The Curious, Cittadella, Gozo Malta; 2013 Malerier, Galleri Taide, Telemark, Norway and 2014 UNPACK – a visio-phonic experience at Pjazza Teatru Rjal, Valletta, Malta and 2016 saw his collaboration with Spright-Art, on AJITP, The Hague, Netherlands.

Let’s take a closer look at the creation and inspiration of two particular beautiful murals that welcome you once you step foot in the magnificent Chapel of Villa Bighi; Odyssey of the Observer and Transience of Thought. The Chapel overlooks the breath- taking views of the Grand Harbour from where by a quirk of fate you can even have a front row view from the balcony onto the imposing cruise liners entering our Harbour- a truly spectacular view I must add!

I’ve seen that face before, ah yes Einstein! An inevitable statement that resonates within the Chapels’ four walls. The first mural, Odyssey of the Observer painted in earthy colours with a palette mimicking nature’s very own land and sky, depict the portraits of the familiar faces of Einstein and Newton. “But who is the third person in the corner? No one in particular”. Dominique explains that this person whom he refers to as the ‘unknown observer’ represents you and me in a world built upon the teachings of the former well known men to the scientific world.

“And what about the lady in the opposite mural to Newton and Einstein? Marie Curie, the physicist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity”, a statement which sheds light on why the artist chose to incorporate a radioactive symbol on his mural. This mural, Transience of Thought is set in Marie Curie’s epoch, depicting also Roentgen’s discovery of X-ray beams alongside a set of books of which the pages seem to have been shuffled over and over again, instilling in the spectator an inkling of deep thought and proficiency. The latter also transmitted through the application of meticulously selected colour hues.

The combination in the shades of browns and golds, blues and turquoise along with glistening reds and orange, bestow an aura of energy and serenity to the Chapel and the History that rests within. Thoughtfully, Dominique imparted that he sees art, and mostly abstract art as a balancing harmony of the unknown combined with what is presented through each brush stroke.

Through the unknown man, the skeleton hand with a floating ring, the radioactive symbol and the floating coloured spheres, one learns about the fragility of art, the wisdom it withholds and the timeless element it embraces. On the one hand these murals instill in us a sense of vulnerability and belittlement, yet on the other, they empower us to narrate the story our eyes feed our mind. It is indeed true that when art is gracefully displayed to our eyes, we become the narrators to interpret the artist’s canvas.