Ritty Tacsum is currently working on an intimate and most personal body of work focusing on the glaringly contrasting ‘spaces’ and places which are the sea (represented through the element of water), and the bed (representing the intimacy of interior spaces).
Seemingly unrelated poles, lying at opposite ends of a spectrum, these two contexts have been constants in the artist’s life and have repeatedly dominated much of her previous work, in that they represent places of refuge, solace, peace and oneness with the world and inner-most thoughts. They are places which have thus become recurring ‘backdrops’ in her images, but which, when seen in context, are elevated to the point in which they become the subject and central preoccupation - one which she is seemingly incapable of escaping.
Just as one would drown their sorrows and pour out their emotions whilst cocooned and enveloped in bed, the folds of the sea fulfill the same purpose on a metaphoric, symbolic level. Thus, the pairing of interiors and exteriors, will constitute a poignant visual account portraying the places which Ritty runs to and seeks out in times of need, solitude and clarity.
Curatorially, the narrative of the exhibition will see the pairing up of interior and exterior shots as diptychs, thereby creating a dialogue among the works, yet also establishing a narrative through a series of what is envisaged as a collection of 12-15 works (diptychs, ie between 24-30 photographs).
Dates - 8th -28th March 2019
Malta Society of Arts, Valletta
Ritty Tacsum (b.1990) is a Malta-based experimental photographer and multimedia artist with a predisposition for multi-layered stories and narratives. Her work taps into memory and makes abundant reference to context, time and place. Architecture features prominently in her work, as do moody surreal settings often dominated by masked anamorphic or androgynous figures.