Biography

Visual and conceptual artist Mary Rose Saliba, born in 1972, lives in her native village Żebbug, Gozo. From an early age she has displayed a fond inclination for art and design. Saliba holds a Master of Arts course in Social Practice Arts and Critical Education, a BA (Hons) in Fine Arts at MCAST Institute for the Creative Arts, and an Extended Diploma with distinction in Health and Social Care.

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Saliba’s paintings convey a powerful philosophical, psychological, and spiritual message. Her work revolves around the co-existence of dualities - exploring the aesthetic form of nature’s harmony in the face of the widespread erosion and degradation of primordial rural areas. The artist considers this complex duality a symbol of the human condition, placed within a cultural, historical, geological, and biological context.

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The artist is currently fully committed to carrying out a socially engaged art-research project, inspired by her twin aims, namely those of supporting minorities and promoting a deeper appreciation of the beauty of the natural environment. To this end walks around Gozo have been organised, featuring sensory experiences while walking and the collation of raw materials, that will eventually be encapsulated and transformed into mixed media paintings. Her hard brush strokes are brimming with energy and splashes of colour which leave the viewer submerged in a world of fantasy and dreams. Saliba is ever so keen to discover new media and explore new forms of artistic expression. The artist’s conceptual and environmental work brilliantly binds these disparate but complementary realities.