SKIN
​Gallery 23, 
23, Idmejda Street, Balzan

     An exhibition of nudes painted mainly through Zoom during lockdowns and restrictions  2020 - 2022
​Open days:
Sunday 22nd May: 11am - 1pm
Thursday 26th May:  6pm - 8pm
Sunday 29th May:  11am - 1pm
Thursday 2nd June: 6pm - 8pm

or contact the Gallery for private viewing by appointment
(0356) 99428272
info@gallery23malta.com
wines kindly sponsored by S.Rausi Trading

I have loved figure drawing since my first encounter with a ‘life’ model during my foundation course  at Hull College of Art back in the 1070’s. Since then, I must have drawn thousands of models, besides habitually sketching people around me. It’s a love affair with the human condition I suppose; a fascination with how humans move and breathe and interact. There is a delicate vulnerability involved with drawing the naked figure, a sense of trust and co-operation between the seer and the seen. The model is exposed to the artist’s scrutiny which goes beyond surface appearances of skin and form, deep into the almost mystical connections that are formed when we communicate beyond words. It becomes a conversation that appears through the hand of the artist in response to the engagement of all the senses. It goes beyond the sexual and even the sensual until it touches something visceral and raw.
 
When lockdown started in early 2020 my only concern about staying in was that I could not attend life drawing sessions, which I did at least once a week. Something remarkable happened though. A few art schools in the UK moved their life sessions online through Zoom. At first it was a bit shaky as we all grappled with the concept and the technology, but it rapidly developed into the many sophisticated sessions that are run today. Artists across the globe are drawing together regularly, sharing work and inspiration. Artists are using these platforms to support and promote body awareness, gender fluidity and minority groups with their art.
 
Most of the works in this collection were created over the last two years, from  Zoom sessions streamed into my studio. I have never liked working from photographs as I find them too static and lifeless, but with online sessions there is still the sense of a real person breathing and slightly moving as they hold the pose and feel the pressure on different parts of their bodies. These models are from all over the world, filming themselves from their own private spaces and often inventing imaginative and sophisticated sets. The connection has kept me inspired and able to reach out beyond the physical walls of my studio and the psychological walls of isolation. The last two years have been an incredibly creative time for me, an inspiring and strangely liberating journey which has resulted in many new works that have surprised and thrilled me.

Framed Works 

44. 44 x 30cm watercolour and conte on canvas

47. 36 x 24cm watercolour on canvas

48. 45 x 32cm watercolour and conte

33. 50 x 35 watercolour and conte

43. 58 x 76cm watercolour

30. 50 x 32cm watercolour and conte

37. 51 x 36cm watercolour and crayon

45. 38 x 29cm watercolour and conte

32. 52 x 38cm gouache and conte

42. 40 x 30cm watercolour and conte on canvas

38. 72 x 53cm charcoal and chalk

26. 71 x 50cm gouache

36. 76 x 28cm gouache

41. 51 x 24cm watercolour and conte

16. 48 x 39cm gouache and conte

3. 32 x 24cm charcoal

14. 42 x 30cm gouache

2. 30 x 40cm watercolour

1. 30 x 40cm watercolour

34. 50 x 40cm Inktense on canvas

31. 48 x 36cm gouache and conte

29. 52 x 36cm watercolour and conte

12. 42 x 59cm ink

21. 27 x 23cm ink and crayon

6. 69 x 49cm gouache

24. 72 x 52cm gouache

4. 75 x 53cm gouache

27. 47 x 38cm "Earth Mother" gouache and pastel

22. "Toes" Gouache and conte

39. 51 x 36cm gouache and conte

28. 52 x 74cm gouache and pastel

35. 52 x 75cm pastel

7. 72 x 51 gouache

17. 75 x 53cm gouache and conte

10. 42 x 36cm gouache and collage

40. 72 x 51cm gouache and conte

46. 52 x 75 gouache and conte

11. 59 x 40cm Colour Theory mixed media

9. 69 x 47cm watercolour

13. 48 x 36cm Lost for Words mixed media

15. 52 x 38cm gouache and conte

23. 69 x 47cm watercolour

25. 71 x 51cm gouache and conte

5. 51 x 72cm gouache and conte

8. 54 x 83cm gouache

18. Flamenco 59 x 42cm charcoal, ink and gouache

19. Flamenco charcoal, 59 x 42cm ink and gouache

20. Flamenco 59 x 42 cm, ink and gouache

Unframed Works 

1. Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

2. Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

3. Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

4. Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

5. Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

Flamenco charcoal, ink and gouache

. 72 x 50 gouache and conte

69 x 50 chalk pastel

46 x 55 walnut ink

54 x 82 cm gouache and conte

48 x 36 gouache

70 x 34 mixed media

57 x 38 Redhead mixed media

72 x 51 cm gouache and conte

72 x 51cm gouache and conte

70 x 50 gouache and conte

70 x 50cm gouache and pastel

Entaglement 52x 73cm mixed media

50 x 70 goauche and conte

. 50 x 71 pastel

72 x 51 cm gouache and conte

70 x 50 cm mixed media

72 x 51cm gouache and conte

75 x 52 gouache

Copyright (C) Jeni Caruana 2021. All images on www.jenicaruana.com are the property of Jeni Caruana