TINA MIFSUD

By the age of 27, Tina has organised two solo exhibitions in Malta, whilst being part of several collaborative exhibitions in Barcelona. Whilst her early work investigated beach cultures in the two places she calls home - Malta and Spain - her more recent work is introspective, interested in the more uncomfortable notions of self-image. Over a considerably brief period of time, Tina has developed a distinctive brushstroke with which she illustrates her artistic mission.

Tina was part of an artist community in Barcelona for two years. There, she worked on building up a portfolio, amongst international mentors and other artists who educated and guided her visions. After that, she decided to take up art full-time and continue dedicating her days to learning and improving within the industry.

Tina Mifsud is a self-taught artist who prominently works with human figure. Tina’s more recent artwork relates to topics of selfimage, life on and off social media, and the societal dynamics that surround the perception of us and our bodies in today’s world. Mifsud’s works have resonated with many from her generation and beyond for the way they manage to create a safe space in which this sensitive topic can be deliberated.

Strongly fascinated by the human form, with flesh and with odd stances, her first collection depicted beach culture in two prominent places in the Mediterranean. Tina says that what attracted her to the figures she painted on the beach was their confidence. It is noticeable that many of the figures are of an older generation, with a nonchalant mentality to being at the beach, in comparison to a younger generation that is more self-conscious about its appearance at the beach. She explains how the beach is a vulnerable place to be, as we highly expose our bodies and insecurities to a large and unknown audience.

Her latest collection were all self-portraits of a confessional nature, displayed at different points of completion, putting on display her relationship with herself and the work. Relating to her ‘plajja’ collection, Tina wanted to turn the lens on herself in order to achieve the confidence her painted figures had. Investigations into the idea of gaze or view are recurrent in the work of Tina Mifsud. For her second solo exhibition, a series of works that contort her flesh and play on her own image hang within a large abandoned space.

Borrowing from Ariana Grande’s 2020 release, pov, she candidly confesses, “I’d love to see me from your point of view,” in repeating stanzas that sound like an echoing voice in our head; this is a collection of personal love/hate conversations with herself. The artist here shifted her subject to the person at the other side of the mirror, the phone lens and the social media post, focusing on everything she’s abhorred in images of herself. Her most personal work to date, this collection is about the disconnect between viewer and subject; delivering the sitter out of its often inanimate status, to display its anxiety, inhibitions and discomforts.

Point of you is about the many ways we are documented, and how we document ourselves. It was an attempt at being present in a time when so much content is created with an absent mind. The series is about a safe space which the artist had created for herself, to deliberate notions of confidence, self-image, social media and perception. In between collections, Tina likes to work on a small series of works that complement each other, but which are not commissions based. Some of her recent ones are Mediterranean-cuisine themed. What’s next? Tina has a few shows lined up towards the end of this year, a collaboration and a solo gig. Being at the beginning of her career, Tina is still exploring different mediums and techniques she enjoys using, and this next collection introduces just that. Working from memory and photographs, Tina introduces a new figure into her work. Opposed to mostly painting the female form, this next collection introduces the Male as her main subject. We’ll see more texture, more mediums and more experimentation.

 @teemif