JEAN BUSUTTIL ZALESKI

MALTA AND MEGALITHS
THE ANCESTOR SERIES

For the past two decades Jean Zaleski has painted subjects from nature that are metaphors for the self. Her monumental cows, her magical forests and mountains have suggested a mystical joining of the artist with the forces of nature. Paintings and works on paper are infused with her marvellous esprit - their bold forms and dramatic tonalities a visual realization of the remarkable experiences that inspired them.

Now Zaleski has turned to a subject that plumbs the depths of her psyche, relating not to the life of an artist, but to childhood: her profound attachment to Malta, her native land. Hardly coincidental with the birth of "The Ancestor Series" was the arrival of two grandchildren, for this extension of the family into another generation made her all the more aware of her heritage. And to make the joining of the past to present even more palpable, Zaleski explored the megalithic sites of Malta with her son and grandson, recording in photographs and in drawings her personal history as it connected to these ancient places.

Zaleski's acrylic canvasses and works on paper of "The Ancestor Series" are among the most personal of her career. In these images she has conjured up visions of her childhood, and recorded for posterity the mysterious neolithic wonders of Malta, an island civilization. Making sketches of surviving family members there, including an elderly aunt, she called forth memories of her mother, a solid figure in a dark doorway - wearing a garment reminiscent of the goddesses of the temple. In representing the megalithic religious edifices Zaleski emphasized the monumentality of the structures, filling her compositions with huge stones, powerful posts and lintels, and the doorways and passages that remain from prehistoric world. Specific sites are evoked - such as the semicircular chamber hewn out of solid rock in the Hypogeum, an underground temple dating five thousand years ago. Zaleski recorded the smooth pillars and lintels that remain as testimony to the remarkable achievements of neolithic builders. And everywhere lurk the shadowy figures of the original inhabitants of these ancient sites. Enshrouded in black, these priestesses or worshippers are ubiquitous, timeless, eternal. They remain within the grey limestone and red sandstone enclosures that will probably survive into the next millennium. As Zaleski has stated, she is painting the "spirit" of these temples, evoking the past and joining it to the present experience of Malta.

Particularly remarkable about "The Ancestor Series" is the rendition of light, based on the fierce and relentless sun contrasting with deep, mysterious shadows. Dramatic chiaroscuro echoes the brilliance of the Mediterranean light while her rocks (and even the sky) are frequently tinged with red. These sparkling images of a magical world are complemented by small sculptures carved from rocks taken from near the temple precincts. Zaleski recreated a neolithic site in miniature, and carved her own homage to the great goddess of Malta. In her paintings appear the stone idol, probably a fertility goddess, wearing a pleated skirt and featuring a bulbous body supported by tiny feet. Zaleski's sculptures of figures fashioned from clay or carved from limestone, are further interpretations of the goddess.

Jean Zaleski has made us aware of Malta as it is today: this island of carob trees, palms, brilliant sun, and gusty winds. Her vision is redolent of the past, of her family memories, and of her deep love for her native land.

Joan Marter
Rutgers University