Sam Formosa

Born 1955, Malta
Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts
Graduation show: 1999
Graduation ceremony: 2000

Artwork in Space YZ

After the Sower, 1999
Ceramic
20 x 30 cm

The tile is After the Sower, inspired by Van Gogh’s painting The Sower. I did this piece in 1999 at XYZ ceramic studio, Kingswood. At that time I was interested in XYZ axis planes in the arts and how to present these geometric planes. This is because I am interested in architecture/engineering and CAD/modelling 3D software. It is interesting to note the name of studio Space XYZ. XYZ planes for XYZ spaces, one may say.

Van Gogh’s painting, The Sower. To me, Van Gogh could have easily been painted it in Malta, and the sower in the painting could have been me. I did that job, I experienced that heat, that light of that sun and pure fresh morning smell of the fields. Our family still have a farmhouse over there, I believe. The farmhouse in the painting has to be made of sandstone, did not have boots, and in Malta at that time you could hardly see any birds. Just like the painting, doing the sowing would be, just me, the sun and the earth.

The clay body. The body was developed from poor dumped clay on the road few kilometres from the studio. It took me a few runs in my SL Commodore to get it the studio. Charlie Mifsud, the Technical Officer at that time showed me the ropes, and it took weeks to get all the process done.

Some of the finished clay body went into experimental pieces such as After the Sower, and fired at a high temp in the small kiln. The bulk of the clay body went into my sculpture piece The Navigator tablets (more than 7m high). There were three firings done in the trolley kiln at low temp. I am more interested in the form in ceramic then the glazes, stains are something else. The high temp recipe was given to me by Charlie Mifsud from his data base - it also served as a test bed for further exploration.

Process. Out of a clay cylinder, I wanted to present the Van Gogh painting. You could see the figure with a hat on emerging from the base of the earth. The earth, is at the base (be careful, have a look underneath). The sun is the viewers gaze from within, reflecting their inner feelings towards the work. The hat and clothing are the only defence against the harsh heat to the midday sun.

My experience at WSU was adventurous, very productive, profitable and instilled a hunger for new ideas and feasible possibilities.