James Vassallo
During and since my studies at Cardiff Met and the University of the West of England, Bristol I've been stripping away at my practice, my enjoyment of experimenting in a variety of media and approaches to making art, now focusing mostly on drawing.
Since moving to Ebbw Vale in 2021 I've been working on images inspired by the Welsh Valleys landscape. A landscape I find beautiful but also harsh and melancholic. A landscape with strong contrasts between human construction and the 'natural' landscape. A natural landscape that was greatly influenced by human agency in the 1990s.
After being introduced to an archive of photographs, held by the Garw Valley Heritage Society, documenting the reclamation that took place there I realised the similarities between my drawing process and what took place there. The drawing, scratching and digging into the ground through a repetitive process. The hiding and erasing of previous actions/results and then the planting of lines upon lines of non indigenous trees resulting in a landscape and drawing that though built on and around an original are not true to it anymore.
C.V
Born Attard, Malta
Works and lives Ebbw Vale, Wales
Education
2015, MA Fine Art, University of the West of England, Bristol
2012, BA (Hons) Fine Art, Metropolitan University Cardiff
Exhibitions
2024, Discerning Eye Drawing Bursary, The Mall Galleries, London
2023-2024, Inside/Out, Oriel y Bont, University of South Wales, Treforest
2022, The Derwent Art Prize, The gallery@oxo, London
2021, The line of least resistance, The Create Centre, Bristol
2019, Wales Contemporary, Waterfront Gallery, Milford Haven
& Mall Galleries, London
2019, Downstream, The Crypt, St Paul's Church, Bristol
2018, SPACEs reimagined, Kosar Contemporary, Bristol
2018, Bona fide, Walcot Chapel, Bath
2017, Winter Wall, Cardiff Made, Cardiff
2017, Presence, Centrespace, Bristol
2016, Al che my, The Island, Bristol
2016, (two artists) SEEMS, Westbury Arts Centre, Milton Keynes
2015, Vent, University of the West of England, Bristol
2015, White Hole, Spike Open, Spike Island, Bristol
2014, Stay, Walcot Chapel, Bath
2014, Deceive/ Disclose, The Galleries, Bristol
2013, The Emerging artist award, Clarke Willmott, Bristol
2012, Output, Howard Gardens, Cardiff
2011, Made in Roath, Cardiff
2004, (two artists) Rencontre, Couvre Porte, Birgu, Malta
2003, (solo) Grand Harbour, Notte Bianca, Malta
1998, (solo) Nomad, The National Museum of Fine Art, Malta
Residencies
2016, Stiwdio Maelor, Corris
2016, Westbury Arts Centre, Milton Keynes
Public Collections
The National Museum of Fine Art, Valletta, Malta
Bank of Valletta plc., Malta
The Council of Birgu, Malta
