MUNICH - STUDIES IN ICONOLOGY 

       In 1993, I moved from Malta to Munich. Before and after the move, I was homeless for many months, with my goods packed away in storage. Without access to a studio or my paintings, I started making collages. 
       These became my Iconological Experiments, where I explored various ways of combining symbols from different sacred traditions. At the time, I was also writing Enter Through the Image: The Ancient Image Language of Art, Myth & Dreams. This was all part of my ongoing attempts to excavate the Ancient Image Language - thinking through images about the many possible paths which my soul could follow through time and into eternity.

       The First Gallery shows black and white collages. The Second Gallery shows how I coloured many of them with a mixture of oils and turpentine. Once my life in Europe became more settled and got a studio (first in Munich, then Paris), a decent number of these collages served as ideas for my paintings.

        Before moving to Munich, I met two wonderful artists in Malta named Eric Schumacher and Martin Hodel. They formed part of a Kunstler Trio in Zurich and Vienna with another artist named Andreas Clavadetscher. While living with me in the small village of Mellieha, Eric and Martin showed me how to create collages while also drawing or painting over top (their works were later collected into a book called Luftbad).

       When I found myself homeless, I took up their idea (expedient for nomads...) of making photocopied collages. My friendship with all three artists flourished over the years, often visiting Eric and Martin in Vienna or receiving visits from Andrea in France. Sadly, Martin Hodel passed away in a mountaineering accident in 1995. I dedicated Enter Through the Image to him, and a wonderful film called Reflections and Ghosts was made in his memory (see the trailer here).

      These collages are inspired by the ludic, creative approach they had to playing with images...

       In 1991, while living in Malta, I met a women who eventually became the inspiration for my painting The Sacrifice. She and I lived together in Munich for almost two years. Through her, I learned an oil technique which creates random patterns in the paint. As I mentioned above, I also learned a collage technique from Eric Schumacher and Martin Hodel a bit earlier. So, I was  able to apply this new painting technique over the collages, exploring new colour shapes and combinations.