While visiting family in Malta this June, I had the chance to see The Glass Collage exhibition at the Victor Pasmore Gallery in Valletta. I felt an immediate connection to Emvin Cremona and his work, not just because we’re related (he was the son of my grandfather’s cousin) but because, like him, I’m experiencing an artistic shift in my late 40s.
When Emvin was nearly 50, and after years of being celebrated for his distinctive geometric style − seen in Maltese stamp designs and in paintings across ecclesiastical institutions throughout Malta − he made a radical turn.
In 1969, he unveiled his Broken Glass exhibition. It was groundbreaking for its time, not only for its raw use of impasto and shards of glass but because no one expected such a bold departure from his earlier work. He moved from composed, controlled lines to fractured, tactile abstraction − a rupture from formality into feeling.
That kind of reinvention resonates deeply with me, especially now, as I navigate my own shift in medium and method. At the same age as Emvin, I too find myself in a moment of artistic change.
After years of working in fine-art street photography, I’ve started to push beyond the frame. In Embodied Moments NYC, I take my images off the wall and onto the body, transforming photographs into couture garments that give form and movement to what was a moment in time.
Like Emvin, I’m stepping beyond the lines and breaking the mould, moving from flat to multidimensional, from image to embodiment. And, perhaps, in another sense, I’m also breaking the glass ceiling; challenging boundaries in how photography, fashion and femininity intersect.
About a year ago, I began imagining a full collection of garments made from my street photography. I began flipping through my New York City street photography and sketching, reimagining the images as silhouettes. It was both challenging and exhilarating.
“I’ve started to push beyond the frame”
But that wasn’t my only challenge. I also needed to find the right creative partners to help bring the vision to life. I was fortunate to find not one but two talented fashion designers and we began producing the collection collaboratively.
This was the first time I had worked so closely with other artists, after many years of it being just me, my camera and the streets. I led the design direction and oversaw printing and prototyping, while one designer specialised in pattern-making and garment construction. The other helped align the images to patterns and introduced embroidery to add texture and depth.
We’re still in production and aim to complete seven pieces by the end of summer. I hope to exhibit the full collection soon, a celebration of transformation, collaboration and continuing a legacy of breaking the mould.
One last connection: both Emvin and I were drawn to the works of Wassily Kandinsky and Lucio Fontana. Kandinsky sought to organise chaos through pattern and abstraction. Fontana slashed and punctured canvases.
Emvin too pierced holes through some of his Broken Glass canvases. In different ways, we’re artists challenging surfaces – breaking through the expected to make space for something bold and unfamiliar.
About the artist
Nicolette (Nicky) Conti is a Maltese-born fine-art street photographer based in New York City. Since 2018, she has captured compelling narratives of urban life through a painterly lens and natural light, transforming everyday street scenes into visually striking compositions.
Her work spans New York and other cities she visits, each image aiming to evoke the unique spirit of its setting.
In 2022, her first solo exhibition, at the Malta Postal Museum in Valletta, showcased her Maltese street photography. Nicky is also the concept creator of Embodied Moments NYC – a limited-edition project that reimagines her street photography as wearable couture. Her journey along this project can be followed on Instagram @embodiedmoments.nyc.