Local artist Lara Vella is presenting a new body of work that celebrates the richness and complexity of the natural world at Bizzilla Art Space in Floriana.
Moving between expansive skies and the intricate details of leaves, petals and organic textures, Chroma, curated by Melanie Erixon, explores how wonder can be found in both the vast and the seemingly insignificant.
Working primarily in oil and acrylic, Vella presents a series of paintings that blur the boundaries between observation and memory.
Cloud formations, shifting light and botanical fragments become immersive painterly studies, inviting viewers to slow down and experience nature through fresh eyes.
“The exhibition reflects Lara’s continuing fascination with landscape and the environment, while expanding her focus beyond familiar scenery to examine the hidden structures and patterns that exist within nature itself,” says curator Erixon.
“From sweeping horizons to microscopic surfaces, Chroma highlights the extraordinary diversity of the world around us, revealing that the same sense of awe inspired by an open sky can also be discovered in the delicate veins of a single leaf.”
Rather than documenting nature with scientific precision, Vella interprets it through colour, texture and emotion.
Her vibrant palette and layered brushwork transform everyday subjects into spaces of contemplation, capturing nature as a living presence that is constantly shifting and evolving.
Light becomes an active element within the paintings, creating moments of movement and atmosphere that reinforce the exhibition’s themes of change and discovery.
“For me, the exhibition is ultimately an invitation to look more closely,” Erixon explains.
“In an age when attention is increasingly fragmented, Chroma encourages a slower mode of seeing – one that rewards curiosity and reveals the remarkable beauty often overlooked in everyday life.
“Whether gazing towards an expansive sky or examining the intricate surface of a flower petal, viewers are reminded that exploration can happen at every scale.”
The exhibition also marks a natural evolution in Vella’s artistic practice. Nature has long been central to her work, serving as both inspiration and a way of reflecting on ideas of memory, belonging and place.
In Chroma, these themes remain present while broadening into a meditation on humanity’s enduring desire to discover and understand the natural world.
Vella’s paintings also combine technical realism with vibrant colour and a sense of childlike curiosity, reimagining familiar landscapes and organic forms through a deeply personal lens.
“Chroma follows Lara’s previous exhibitions while introducing a new emphasis on scale and perspective,” Erixon says.
“Across the collection, viewers are encouraged to rediscover familiar environments, recognising that beauty exists not only in dramatic landscapes but also within the intricate details that often escape notice.”
By shifting between the monumental and the microscopic, Chroma ultimately offers a reminder that nature is both expansive and intimate, and invites audiences to pause, observe and reconnect with the quiet wonders that surround them every day.
Chroma is showing at Bizzilla Art Space, located within MAPFRE MSV Life at The Mall, Floriana, until July 30. Visitors can view the exhibition from Monday to Friday between 9am and 4pm.
