Why do I paint and draw myself? Having grown up and lived in different countries and cultures, at some point, I began asking myself who I was. I do not feel belonging to any particular nationality, mentality or place. Self-portraits are part of a constant search-for-identity process. Part of this is a series of self portraits without a face, depicting only my hands or feet, drawn from life, that I started in 2018, in Malta, after another country move, while feeling alienated from my environement, grieving the human connections and beloved places I left behind. Hands and feet deprived of a body, emerging from nowhere or floating in the whiteness of paper, emphasise the idea of disconnection and displacement.

Working on a self-portrait is an inner monologue and, when working from direct observation, from a mirror reflection, a never ending one. For me, it is also a way of dealing with difficult emotional situations, past or present. I usually work spontaneously, responding to the current emotions and environment, such as light and colours that I find inspirational.

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