Pursuing distinct approaches, the three Toronto artists nevertheless share a common theme: the labyrinth. They draw from varied sources of myths, history and imagination, each following a guiding thread from which their thoughts and visions emerge. But the mystery of the labyrinth itself will remain in the shadow since the meaning ascribed to its structure perished with its constructors.
Even before we penetrate a labyrinth, we are faced with a choice: to enter or not; because the idea of it arouses fear. Then the choices are multiplied. The abundance of possible paths entails new hesitations. Where will this lead us: to the center of the maze, to a way out? Will we come back to our starting-point?
Catherine Blackburn, Paul Walty and Joseph Muscat intend to submerge themselves into the unknown and bring us along with them in an impenetrable and unpredictable path. It is the result of their in road and discoveries, interpreted by different techniques, that they share with us. Their interpretations intermingle and complete one another. It is up to us to draw a conclusion if indeed the enigma can lead to a solution.
There is no trap in this labyrinth; only questions remain those of choices, those of commitment and those stirred up by the unknown. For every person who undertakes the journey, two realities meet: the vision of the artist and the one on the traveller following his path.
Joseph Muscat
Born in B’kara, Malta, Joseph Muscat is a Canadian artist who lives and works in Toronto. The universe of Muscat is not limited to a style, a form, a medium. He clearly prefers to satisfy his intellectual and creative curiosity by venturing beyond the limits that his daily life, studio, technique or equipment might impose on him. In Muscat's work, it is eclecticism that strikes, which has become in a way his brand positioning: acrylic paintings, oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, sculptural constructions, lithographs, colour photographs, etc. For the artist, everything is artistic material, bearer of meaning, evocative of a past, a memory, a transformation.
Artist ProfilePaul Walty
Paul Walty, a visual artist based in Toronto, has been active professionally since 1980. For the most part, drawing is his medium of choice. French and English, both spoken and written, are frequent sources of inspiration.
Artist Profile