Art Scene

July 17, 2025 – Published in Design & Decor Autumn-Winter 2022 issue

The art of observation & abstraction – Andrew Borg

Photography Matthew MIrabelli

Colourful Maltese tiles welcome you into a three-storey townhouse in Siggiewi, which is a reflection of the artwork conceived within its core. Stone staircases lined with paintings lead to the top-floor art studio, a bright and airy haven of colour and vision—and the hub of creativity for local artist Andrew Borg.

An engineer by profession, Andrew turned to art to balance his scientific mindset.

“In engineering,” he explained, “either something works or it doesn’t. 

I tend to get irritated when things are not done properly, but this can annoy others, even within the family. To balance things out, I channelled the other extreme of creativity—and this is how I began painting.”

This merging of engineering and art comes naturally to Andrew, as he bases much of his artwork on elegant curves and shapes, also found in mathematics. His artistic journey began in 2006 when he attended classes by John Martin Borg, who gave him the motivation he needed. But it was when he turned to a classical drawing and painting course by renowned artist Jason Lu that he truly found his niche. Andrew spent four years under his guidance, learning the sense of observation and control that would give him the confidence to express what he had in mind on canvas.

“It is a process of learning how to perceive physical shapes and gaining the ability to faithfully reproduce what you are observing.” – Andrew

“You wire your brain to look, memorise, and put a mark on the canvas. This entailed hours of work, but it gave me a good level of control, which accompanied me well in the later years of painting.”

Andrew humbly claims that his talent can be acquired by anyone with the right will and training. “Under Lu’s tutelage, I was just honing my skills and, eventually, injecting my own creativity and personality. With the ability to observe, you can transpose practically anything on canvas, whether it is a portrait, landscape, or still life.”

Like many artists, Andrew relishes painting en plein air, which can present a challenge.

The light is constantly moving, and filtering the wide choice of outdoor subjects can be daunting. He claims, however, that the quality of light and colours found in Malta are rarely seen anywhere else, while local accessibility to spectacular scenery without driving for hours is also a bonus.

Andrew credits his observation classes with giving him the knack for quickly noting focal points, say a church or a village, and concentrating on pushing them either very high up, to create drama, or very low, which manifests space. His minimalistic style enables him to simplify the process while capturing the mood at that point in time.

“Having said that, when painting a church, I am careful to use the right proportions. Did you know that each church dome in Malta is recognisable via its own particular curvature? The same goes for our beaches—each bay has its own distinguishing colours. You can learn to identify these places, even if you see an abstract depiction.”

Andrew’s artistic style mixes impressionistic, or semi-realistic, aspects with some level of abstraction.

His preferred medium is mainly traditional oils, but he also enjoys the challenge of watercolours, which require using the white of the paper and pre-planning to see where the white will be and avoid making irreparable mistakes.

Andrew enjoys contrast and its many dimensions. He sometimes takes the mundane and seeks to glorify it, as seen in his portrayals of a concrete mixer (‘Bajla’), a gbejna (cheeselet - ‘Friska’), a garbage bag (‘Sort It Out’), or a slice of imqarrun (baked pasta - ‘Lust’).

“Some of the paintings I really enjoy doing are ones in which I try to inject some intelligence while, simultaneously, making them aesthetically pleasing. For example, ‘Stories’ was from a photo taken one New Year’s Eve in Bologna. The physical storeys of the building hide the stories of the occupants, making you wonder what is behind the curtains or what the lit windows represent. I am careful which windows to light up, so the pattern makes sense, even if just to me. It looks simple and random, but there would still be a certain thought process behind the composition.”

Andrew never knows when inspiration will strike. A wheelchair-bound man he observed at a gala dinner contrasted heavily with the dancing guests, and he ended up inspiring his painting ‘The Empty Table’. A shaft of natural light on the sofa in his studio was behind ‘The Red Sofa’, while the interior of a plane led to ‘Sunshine in the Cabin’.

The skilled artist has also created a number of commissioned paintings.

‘The Shop’ represents the elegant boutique at Camilleri Paris Mode. Andrew replicated one of their mirrors, together with the identical green paint on their walls, and depicted one of the directors standing in the reflection of the shop. 

On a different occasion, he portrayed the same landscape at different times of the day—these were used to label Marsovin bottles of 1919 wine: ‘Zerniq’ (dawn) for the rosé, ‘Nofshinar’ (noon) on the white, and ‘Ghabex’ (twilight) for the red.

“There is one particular piece, ‘Memories’, which, to me, is the most complete painting I ever did. When our close friends lost their son of 20 years, they told us it felt like living with an amputation. The idea impressed me, and after months of deliberation, I went to Addolorata to gain inspiration. At the cemetery, the only living things are the trees. So, using the white of the canvas, I amputated the tombstones out of the foliage of the trees to reflect my friends’ loss. At the same time, from a distance, the painting looks like a heartbeat on a monitor, representing hope. I often deliberate how my art may be improved. But the execution of this particular one was as close to completion as I could ever get.”

Andrew recently collaborated with friend and fellow artist, Debbie Bonello, in an art exhibition in Gozo.

“Whereabouts was a presentation of several paintings we both specifically created for the event as a tribute to Gozo. We captured snapshots of a number of scenic spots without any obvious angles or landmarks. One of my unique perspectives, among many other notable localities, offered a glimpse of recognition for a cliff in Marsalforn, namely ‘Il-Ponta ta’ Santa Marija’.”

Andrew feels fortunate that painting is not something he does for a living. “It’s a very fine balance of pushing yourself to do something different without making it look unnatural. I’m often in no rush, so I can flow through the process as I wish. Having the freedom to choose and explore different subjects and mediums is definitely a perk for me. This is my artistic journey—I look forward to seeing where it will take me!”