A RT
WORDS CHRISTINE XUEREB SEIDU
PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST SELINA SCERRI
SELINA SCERRI DOESN’T NEED MUCH OF AN INTRODUCTION IN THE CONTEMPORARY MALTESE ART WORLD. KICKING OFF HER PROFESSIONAL CAREER WHEN SHE ENROLLED AT CENTRAL SAINT MARTINS IN LONDON IN 2002 AS A SCHOLARSHIP STUDENT, SHE IS A MULTIMEDIA ARTIST WHO HAS EXPLORED SUBJECTS SUCH AS PORNOGRAPHY, DOMESTICITY AND MAGIC. Since her graduation in 2007, she has exhibited with galleries
her AI art project ‘Tomorrow’s Blossoms’, as well as her work as
in the UK, Italy, Malta and Spain and has obtained an MA in
creative director of Creative Science and Arts Institute (CSAI), a
illustration from Falmouth University only recently, whilst raising
research institute that is dedicated to bring about our founding
her son and juggling many different projects.
vision of a world where Scientific and Humanistic knowledge is unified and used to obtain creative solutions for society’s needs.
We have been made accustomed to the paintings Selina Scerri has
CSAI runs the CSAI Community Site to help foster and support
been producing throughout the years and the latest project of
co-operation between appropriate researchers, experts and
work titled ‘Goddess of the Future’, which is an ongoing visual
practitioners while sharing knowledge about relevant processes,
project that investigates science fiction, feminist novels and
artefacts, techniques, events and interesting and notable people
themes whilst exploring them by appropriating images from
in relevant fields, creating an inter-disciplinary community of
advertisements, sci-fi cinema posters and vintage photography,
creatives, be it scientists and artists. These are all projects that
combining them with different techniques, mostly painting. The
many of us are so excited to see.
paintings, which have already started being exhibited at Christine X Art Gallery in Sliema, can go on to explore different themes such as
The main purpose of her project ‘Tattooed Stories’ is to explore
dating, love, forgiveness, tattoos and pornography.
the narrative that reinforces the phenomenon of why someone gets tattooed, to the act of getting tattooed, and ends with how
There has also been a lot of work that she has been working on
the bodies are judged, once tattooed. The decision to conduct
that hasn’t really been brought out to be appreciated yet. This
this research was informed by Selina’s own experience as a voyeur
includes her project ‘Tattooed Stories’, which is currently on hold,
and an artist who admires tattoos and the culture behind them.
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