This week • 24 November 2002

What a week!

Sculptor Joseph Casha explains to Ramona Depares what his art is all about

Monday: Woke up full of energy, wanting to start working. I’m not the kind of artist who enjoys working to specification: people will commission me to create something for them – such as a sculpture of the Holy Mary, for instance. But other than that, the specifics are up to me. After all artists work to inspiration and not to order!

I’ve always known that sculpting is my art. When I was at art school there was Samwel Bugeja who taught me how to sculpt. Then there was Gorg Borg, who taught me modelling. And then I got the Scholarship to study at the Accademia di Bella Arti in Rome. Since then I haven’t looked back.

Now it’s my turn to teach, so off to the School of Art at five in the afternoon. There until 7.30, a good session really.

Tuesday: No teaching commitments today, which means that I can really concentrate on being creative. I never have just one piece going at a time, I like working on a multitude of pieces. Before I complete one sculpture I always start on another. That’s my personality.

When it comes to style I tend to go through different phases. Last Summer it was terracotta. Now, since September I’ve moved on to tree branches and wood. Reminds me of the diversity of my student days in Rome. They were good days, and I even managed to finish off the course in three years instead of four! Back to today, as I was saying I’m really into wood at the moment. I don’t do figurative work with it, I specialise in emphasising the wood’s natural shape. It’s amazing how different a piece of branch can be from another. The last piece of work I finished was a tabernacle for the parish church of Attard: it is eight feet high and is completed sculpted out of a carob tree. It remains one of my favourite pieces of work, in fact.

Wednesday: Thank goodness I’m going through a quiet phase right now, although I do have a couple of big commissions coming up. Morning quite uneventful and relaxed. Then off to school of art. I used to be the head there until recently but now I’m back to teaching. Not that I didn’t enjoy the administrative side of it: I can honestly say that during my time as head I really did my utmost to improve the school. I did a lot of work there, including creating lecture rooms etc

Had a very productive session with the students. There is a lot of talent around and you can easily tell which students possess that special creative streak. I also lecture on a part-time basis B.Ed students at university and I must say I’m very much encouraged by the students’ work. Contrary to what some people might think, students do appreciate art.

Thursday: Off to university in the morning. I like to teach things based on creativity not on technique.. I just got a book from the library called Architecture Origami and both my students and myself are finding it fascinating. I enjoy helping the students to think differently.

Mind you, I still believe that we should focus more on art when it comes to the school syllabus. From the point of view of a Headmaster I am indeed aware that art comes last when it comes to organising the syllabi. People tend to put more importance on English, languages, maths, physics and the more academic subjects. If they only realised how much students can benefit from art! This is especially true in the case of problem or disturbed children: art can have a therapeutic effect by helping these kids let their feelings out.

Friday: Woke up early and started experimenting with a particular branch. I used to do a particularly beautiful style of sculpting, branches embellished with gold. The result was very effective, I believe that I was the first artist to come out with this technique. But now I’m thinking of trying my hand at something different.

Unfortunately, when the Maltese think of modern art more often than not what they have in mind are modern paintings. There aren’t many modern sculptures occupying a prominent public place, such as a square. I know there’s one in Sliema but that was done by a foreigner.

Afternoon off to school as usual.

Saturday: Early morning off to the Book Fair, which had just opened its doors yesterday. Wasn’t expecting to find a multitude of school children, the whole place was simply crowded! It’s good to see that students are taken to these events. Had a very enjoyable morning browsing through art books: got a couple of good books and then off back home just in time for lunch. I don’t normally like crowds but the morning was certainly worth the effort.

Afternoon had a quick nap and then out for a walk. When I got home I tended a bit to my bonsai collection. I’m fascinated with the small trees and I was the one who founded the Bonsai Culture Group. Even today, it’s still going strong.

Sunday: Off to mass first thing in the morning. Had a chat with a couple of friends and then back home for lunch. Spent the afternoon working quietly on my sculptures, a very pleasant day all in all.

Decided to dedicate the day completely to art. Worked a bit on a particular branch. Sculpting is very different from painting: it takes a lot more time. You have to clean the branch, then strip it and then finally you can start working on it. All very time consuming!

Afternoon saw a bit of television and then went out with the family.