Currently exhibiting at the Venice Biennale 2026
About Mixa Painting
Practice
I create my own paints because I want the material itself to speak. Each paint arrives imperfect, unpredictable, and alive, bringing with it traces of place, time, and transformation, embodying the essence of sustainable art.
I do not think of nature as merely a subject to be represented; instead, I work with it. Each painting evolves into a dialogue between what I can control and what I cannot: the behavior of minerals, the memory contained within organic matter, and the slow accumulation of layers that record both intention and chance.
I am drawn to surfaces that invite a deeper reading rather than simple observation. Erosion, fragility, and imperfection are not just effects but partners in the artistic process. They serve as a reminder that nothing is fixed; everything is in the midst of becoming.
Based in Malta, my contemporary art practice delves into how natural materials can hold memory and how painting can serve as a space where human experience intersects with the natural world.
In 2026, my work was showcased in Personal Structures, organized by the European Cultural Centre (ECC) at Palazzo Mora during the Venice Biennale.
Artist Statement
Before there is a painting, there is a walk.
In my artist statement, I describe how I gather earth, stone, ash, and plant matter—not merely because they represent the landscape, but because they are the landscape. These natural materials have already lived a life before they enter my studio. I grind them, sift them, and mix them with water and binder. Slowly, they transform into color, though they never entirely shed their original identities.
I have come to understand contemporary art as a conversation rather than an act of control. The materials insist on their own nature; some resist, some dissolve, and others crack as they dry. I no longer perceive these moments as imperfections but rather as a record of collaboration. The work is shaped not just by my hand but equally by the behavior of the materials.
The surface of my paintings becomes a gathering place for time. Layers settle on top of one another like sediment, holding traces of decisions, interruptions, and chance events. I revisit these layers repeatedly, allowing the paintings to evolve at their own pace. They demand patience and encourage slow contemplation.
I am fascinated by what remains when certainty falls away: the weight of a stone reduced to pigment, the memory encapsulated in a handful of soil, and the quiet evidence that every material harbors its own history.
These are not narratives I impose upon the work; they are stories the natural materials already possess.
I do not view nature as something external to ourselves.
We move through it, carry it with us, and ultimately return to it. My sustainable art endeavors to make that relationship visible—not by depicting the world, but by allowing fragments of it to become the work itself.
The body enters the work as another landscape: vulnerable, porous, and continually changing. Faces merge with flowers, surfaces fracture, and human form reverts to matter. I am captivated by what remains when beauty is liberated from the constraints of perfection.