A RTISA N
WORDS MONIQUE CHAMBERS
O F F SC R E E N / ON SC R E E N
ARTIST, APRILLE ZAMMIT, SHARES HER STORY OF SPENDING SUMMERS WITH HER TALENTED GRANDMA AND HER SCREEN-PRINTING SKILLS WITH US. This past March, I fulfilled a dream of mine to exhibit alongside my
While there I was exposed to the screen printing process, which I
grandmother Rose Nygaard, an abstract expressionist artist. We
discovered allowed me to output my designs and creations by hand.
created a body of work together. I layered my work on top of her
Eventually, I convinced the department to allow me to officially
paintings to represent a continuum of her approach. I extracted
study the subject and I left with a BFA in Graphic Design, with a
elements forming the composition or the landscape of Rose’s
Minor in Printmaking.
art pieces and formed a symbiotic expression by layering the extractions in the form of lines and shapes onto the original art
Moving back to Malta, I was disappointed by the lack of a
piece. I grew up spending my summers in my grandmother's studio.
communal printmaking space where artists could work together
I observed her get lost in a world of colours and this had a huge
and share the use of equipment and facilities. It is one of my
influence on my creative career.
goals to create such a space. In the meantime, I have a studio in Fgura where I work and run workshops for a growing
This sparked my interest; I was a creative child, modelling playdoh,
number of enthusiasts.
spending hours making cards and drawing with markers. While at Verdala International School, I started to take it seriously, did an IB
The people that come to my workshops – which are limited to 4
in Arts and applied to various art schools to continue my education.
people at a time - are generally novices. However, there is interest
I attended Virginia Commonwealth University, the number one
from people studying fashion or illustration as well. I also welcome
public arts school in the USA and started my degree in fine arts.
tourists and holidaymakers to book a half-day session to come
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