JOSEPH MUSCAT Right @ Home
Exhibition
Nov. 7 – Dec. 1
Right @ Home brings together a survey of two and three dimensional works with the common thread of an iconic little cabin motif that has taken up residency in my practice over the years.
The word HOME is brimming with associations and resonances which connote Shelter, Family, Society and Ethnic Origin. Conversely, the very same word might conjure struggle, trauma and ideas of conflict and loss. There is no escaping the issue of Housing in public policy and economics and no avoiding it for any politician. And there is no denying the instinct each of us has for a little nest of our own.
Over my forty+ years as a visual artist, I have often returned to this simplified cabin – a little three-sided isometric structure, typically devoid of details such as doors and windows. I deploy this little structure almost like a talisman, rendering it in different media - painting, printing and carving a host of different versions, just as we find real homes in widely diverse settings. Symbolically, this familiar
image lends itself to many depictions and endless interpretations.