Anna Calleja

Anna Calleja (b.1997) is a Maltese multi-disciplinary artist working in paint, print, and sculpture. Calleja has exhibited in Malta and the UK, at the Wignacourt Museum in Malta and at Tate St.Ives, Porthmeor Studios, and at the Mall Galleries in London. In 2020, her painting, “Alone in Quarantine” was awarded a Winsor and Newton Young Artist Award at the Royal Institute of Oil Painters Annual Exhibition. Her current body of work retires to the comfort and melancholy of home, using the process of painting and printmaking to create quiet moments of introspection. Instagram: @annacallejapaints

Where would you like your work to take you?

The pandemic has accentuated uncertainty in our everyday lives, leaving us uncertain whether our immediate freedoms will change from day to day. This is reflected in the way I look at the future of my work. I don't know what the future holds. I think the uncertainty has become a big part of my practice; thematically but also within the creative process.

If you could show your work anywhere - where would it be?

In 2020, showing work was extremely difficult with most of the shows I was to participate in being cancelled or made online.

Therefore, I am grateful for any opportunity to exhibit my work physically to allow viewers to engage with paintings and prints in a real tangible way.

My favourite exhibitions have always tended to be in museums; retrospectives of my favourite artists in the RA, V&A, the Tate, National Galleries and the Mall Galleries in London. I also really admire new forms of exhibiting such as the Delphian Gallery that has no fixed space.

Where do you draw inspiration from?

I draw influence from various artists throughout history and the contemporary art scene; Johannes Vermeer, Édouard Vuillard, John Singer Sargent, Gwen John, Anni Albers, Rachel Whiteread and Andrew Cranston to name a few.

Can you list a couple other creatives/friends/people you look to for inspiration?

There are always artists and creatives to look up to and learn from. While my work is autobiographical, I draw inspiration from various sources, art, literature, music and current affairs. In my most recent body of work, I hark back to artists I admire, reference historic tropes in figurative painting and also revisit the childhood certainty of fairy tales.