Date – From 14th April to 28th April
Price: Free
Event Page – take me home – A Solo Exhibition by iella
1. Summary of the proposed exhibition
Debut solo show by UK-based Maltese illustrator and designer iella (Daniela Attard) focusing on leaving home, long-distance relationships, life in constant transit and the phases in-between.
Taking place in Malta, London and Sydney this exhibition will travel to key places which inspired and pivoted the work produced.
Works will differ slightly between the three shows although some core pieces will be present in all three exhibitions. A final publication collating all the pieces will be made at the end of the exhibition cycle.
2. Artistic concept leading to the narrative of Take me home
Over the past few years I have struggled with the concept of home and belonging to one place. This is a common problem that comes with leaving your home country to develop and find one’s place in the world. I have also learned that the concept of home can be less literal, like a person, object, an experience or a memory. After I left Malta in 2012 to pursue an MA in illustration, I began to experience moments of homesickness. This was dealt with by drawing and making more work and I soon learned to live with it. It also inspired me to start travelling more, taking with me a sketchbook and to become fully immersed by the places I visited. I will also use this exhibition to explore the relationships I lost and found along the way.
I will translate these personal experiences into complex drawings that reflect key lessons and experiences from the past few years, exploring complex themes of homesickness, nostalgia and trying to find one’s place in the world. The work will feature highly detailed figurative work rendered primarily in pencil,along with a selection of sketchbooks and travel sketches.
Malta, the United Kingdom and Australia (and several other places in between) have all shaped my artistic growth and aspirations which is one of the main reasons why this exhibition has been designed to ‘travel’.
The exhibition is named after John Denver’s ‘Take me home, Country Roads’ a song I personally dislike but that inspires an intense feeling of nostalgia.
This project is supported by the Malta Arts Fund
3. Timeline
March 2021
The first part of the of the exhibition will take place at Desko, Valletta, for two weeks. An opening night and workshop will take place in compliance of any covid-19 restrictions.
Note: UK and Australian galleries are subject to change due to Covid relatedrestrictions.
May – September
The second part of the exhibition will take place at Hoxton 253 art project space, London.
or Locus of Walthamstow (backup gallery) London for one week.
October 2021 (Covid permitting) or early 2022
The third and final part of the exhibition will take place at the M2 gallery in Sydney, Australia for one week.
Daniela Attard
Designer / illustrator
London, Greater London, United Kingdom
I am an industry level illustrator and designer with years of in-house experience making, designing, drawing, illustrating, animating and creating fun bits of concept art for various creative projects.
Freelance artist and illustrator in spare time, often spending long nights drawing or attending lifedrawing
BA History of Arts (hons) 2011, University of Malta, Malta
MA Communication design: illustration 2013, Kingston university, London
Experience
Warner media / Cartoon Network 2014- current
Designer and illustrator
London, United Kingdom
Multidisciplinary designer responsible for creating and working on kids properties.My responsibilities include, visual development (with experience in product and brand building), character design & character art, illustration, animation and motion design.
Group exhibitions and press
Exhibitions
Group exhibitions and pressArtna (Our Land) 2020, Online
Larger than Life! 2020, Desko, Valletta
Selfie 2014, Studio 104, Valletta
Kingston University illustration MA group show 2013, London, UK
Press
https://issuu.com/werkdesigns/docs/archetype_3web
https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/arts/art/31648/comic-book-artist-scoresmalta-s-first-crowd-funding-success-20131120#.Xs_klRdKjUI
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/creativity-depends-on-play-says-r2-d2-builder.594885
https://lovinmalta.com/feature/7-maltese-people-doing-awesome-shitabroad/
https://www.maltatoday.com.mt/arts/art/48017/success_in_soho__daniela_attard#.Xs2T1BdKgvo
https://merlinpublishers.com/Illustrator/daniela-attard/
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/Cartoon-life.656649
https://www.tvm.com.mt/en/news/maltija-titkellem-dmaltese-artistsdream-came-true-when-she-started-work-with-cartoon-networkwar-ilhidma-taghha-ma-cartoon-network-waqt-comic-con/
https://gadgetsmalta.com/general/meet-maltas-tech-gurus-daniela-attardcartoon-network/
https://theworldnews.net/mt-news/artists-tackle-human-rights-issues
https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/artna-our-land-campaign-a-call-toaction-from-maltas-illustrators.786449