Self Portrait Artist Martina Mifsud Exhibits 1st Nude Self Portraits in Malta

Bold and brave self portrait artist Martina Mifsud openly displays very personal nude portraits in Malta, where nudity is still frowned upon..

I’m a terrible at anything artistic, I can’t paint, I can’t dance, I can’t sing to save my life, I’m not good at sports. I remember thinking when I was very young, many moons ago, that God (when I still believed he existed) gave me no talents. What I can do instead is really appreciate those that recognise their talents and do something with them.

When Luisa my step-daughter sent me photos of an exhibition of nude self-portraits by her friend Martina Mifsud I was immediately intrigued. Not only are the paintings beautiful even to a non-technical eye like mine, but what really struck me was how bold and brave this young artist must be to so openly display these very personal nude portraits in Malta, a place where nudity is still frowned upon by many and where sunbathing topless is a crime.

I had to go to meet this amazing artist. Arriving at the venue, I was instantly drawn to this petite young woman, we have an expression in Maltese it says “l-essenza fil-fliexken iż-żgħar” (essence is found in small bottles) and Martina’s petite build and gentle friendly ways disguise a confident and self-aware inspirational young woman. To my untrained eye, Tina’s paintings are beautiful, but I’ll leave the art critiquing to the experts – I’m curious to get to know self portrait artist Martina, but her friends call her Tina.

I start by asking her if I’m correct in thinking that she is probably the first female Maltese self portrait artist to exhibit nude self-portraits. Tina confirms this and tells me that yes, as far as she knows no local female artists have exhibited nude self-portraits before.

Tina is very open about what led her to express herself so bravely in her art. She wants her art to pass on a message and strike up conversations. She openly tells me about how two years ago she suffered from body dysmorphia, a condition many other women can relate to. Body dysmorphia is described by the Mayo Clinic as a “mental health disorder in which you can’t stop thinking about one or more perceived defects or flaws in your appearance; a flaw that appears minor or can’t be seen by others. But you may feel so embarrassed, ashamed and anxious that you may avoid many social situations.”

Tina tells me, “I was avoiding myself completely, I wasn’t looking in any reflections, like whether it was a mirror or a camera, even passing by a glass, I just didn’t want to face disappointing myself in the way I look”.

“I spent about five months in this limbo, very confused and unhappy with myself.”

The fact that she let this get to her so much was very upsetting to Tina because she had always been confident and outgoing, however sometimes just a negative word, or criticism can inadvertently set us off and throw us off balance and onto a negative or different path. She knew she needed to do something about her situation. She wanted to feel better, so she decided to do some research and came across something called exposure therapy. The American Psychological Association has this to say about the benefits of exposure therapy, “The exposure to the feared objects, activities or situations in a safe environment helps reduce fear and decrease avoidance.” After reading about this, Tina decided to try exposing herself to herself.

Tina tells me she began by taking lots of photographs of herself over a two-year period, during which time her weight fluctuated a lot. “I wanted to document my body fluctuating”. She started by recording herself at her worst, taking many unflattering naked photos in various different positions. She tells me, “the idea was to be able to see myself, to see what I thought was really ugly, so then I would be more confident when I approach a mirror, because I would have already seen myself in a very unflattering way. The scope was to know my body so well, to know it inside out. Eventually I started painting”. She tells me that “along the way it became more about knowing my body well, what flatters me, knowing how to hold myself, because I’m petite even what clothes I wear make a difference on me”. As a woman with many insecurities about the way I look I can really relate to what she is saying

Tina and I discuss how life is a journey and how we really need to find our strength from within. Self portrait artist Martina tells me how one of the male visitors to her exhibition associated her art with the discomfort he feels not due to physical shortfalls but because of some of his character traits. He told Martina that he is very shy and this hinders him from doing many things in life and people sometimes “pick on his character” even though it may be meant in a friendly way. The nagging “ejja qum minn hemm” is something he finds hard to deal with. He explained to Martina how he found it really “beautiful how you turned your insecurities into something other people can relate to and turned an insecurity into a strength.”

Martina tells me “it’s all about being comfortable in our own skin”. This really resonates with me because so many times when younger I had not felt comfortable in my own skin and finding the comfort is what set me free. Not worrying what people would think if I might say or do the wrong thing, or wear the wrong clothes, or have a bad hair day, not trying to keep up with what I thought others expected of me, and just doing what I thought was right for me was very liberating.

This 26 year old artist is wiser beyond her years; “When people ask if I’ve now overcome my body dysmorphia phase, I say I’ve come to terms with it because our bodies are constantly changing and will continue to change, and there’s nothing we can do about it.”

I tell her how I thought all of her paintings in the exhibition are beautiful and I see none as unflattering, more maybe “uncomfortable”. “With collections like this it’s almost like storytelling,  my main focus is never to sell, I don’t want to go on the commercial side of art, there’s nothing wrong with it at all. I just always wanted my art to be politically engaging and to strike conversation and in fact my friends told me that after they came to see my exhibition, they were talking all evening about women’s bodies and women’s rights. I was really happy to hear this because that’s exactly what I want my paintings to do.”

On the subject of women’s rights we discuss how in the past female artists had a very difficult time because of gender roles and women were not allowed to study. It was not part of what they should be doing as females. It was very difficult to study anything really, unless they had a father who taught them or encouraged and allowed them and paid for their tuition (https://artsandculture.google.com/story/the-women-painters-overlooked-by-art-history/7AJCHFiEkqVKJg). Women were instead muses for male artists. This reminded me of a recent poster I saw that mentioned how at the Metropolitan Museum in New York in 1989, less than 5% of the artists in the modern art section were women, but 85% of the nudes were female. Sadly, for women, although much has changed, we still have a long way to go.

We discuss how important it is for women to be financially independent and Martina tells me that in fact her parents always supported her decisions and it was them who encouraged her to go to study art in Barcelona but it was also important for them that she gets a degree. Tina also has BA in Tourism studies. She tells me about how she loved her experience in Barcelona, about how it was one of her mentors in Barcelona who suggested that she should turn the lens onto herself to help her with her insecurities and to help her build up her self-confidence.

We chat and chat and although I am old enough to be Martina’s mother, there is a connection and feel-good vibe only achievable when women appreciate one another and are open to collaboration and understanding of one another and support each other. When women don’t feel threatened, but supported and uplifted by each other, there is a special feeling and sisterhood that nothing can beat. I wish Martina every success with her art and before she leaves, she also tells me about another exciting project she is involved in together with her friend Suzi Mifsud – they design and sell small leather bags – called Fold (check out itsfold.com). Self portrait artist Martina is proof and an inspiration, and shows us that there is no limit to what we can achieve once we learn to love and trust ourselves.

Do you know or you consider yourself to be an inspiring female artist? We’d love to feature you on wham! Contact us or send us an email at [email protected]