Priscilla Gatt


Priscilla Gatt is the artist-pseudonym for Priscilla Camenzuli of Gudja, Malta.

Priscilla is a mom of two and a medical nurse by profession, who escapes from her busy life by losing herself in the arts.

She has been passionate about art ever since she can remember and is a self-taught, up-and-coming painter.

Gatt is not confined by one particular style or medium. Instead she is versatile in what she does.

“Through art I can capture and immortalise life, nature and emotions of a particular moment”, she says.

Many pieces of her work represent her own vision of the world around us. Her favourite subjects are the calmness of nature and faces, each one with unique features and a story to tell. Both subject matters hide the deepest secrets like those of joy, kindness, sorrow or wickedness.

Priscilla loves fine and contemporary art and famous artists such as Claude Monet, Edgar Degas and Leonid Afremov, a Russian–Israeli modern impressionistic artist.

Her work doesn’t follow a regimental style but instead it evolves or adapts to the theme or the intent of her own artistic view.

Priscilla Gatt has taken part in several local exhibitions. She looks forward to showcasing more of her work at a solo exhibition in the near future. Meanwhile she has devoted her precious time in the studio to the creation of her first bettija’rt.


“The Reminiscence of Times Gone By in Strait Street”

by Priscilla Gatt

Gatt’s bettija’rt is titled “The Reminiscence of Times Gone By in Strait Street” and takes you down memory lane in Valletta’s most famous street.

Known as Strada Stretta in Maltese, the alley was the pinnacle of nightlife in a bygone era. Does Strait Street exist today? Yes, and it’s just as vibrant as in the olden days! Nowadays, the popular stretch sees plenty of wine go round.

This is the immediate inspiration for Gatt’s figurativism, painted rather realistically through a glance at the people, with the use of careful composition and detailed brushwork on the large, challenging wooden ‘canvas’.

Or, as Priscilla puts it: “I decided to go for this analogue of times gone by and the relationship with wine within our society throughout times, an inspiration that came to me when revisiting the mesmerizing city of Valletta.” 

 The artist sketched outlines from impromptu photographs from nights out with friends in vibrant Strait Street. The bettija’rt is finished with acrylics, oil glazes, pencil and crayon markings.

The ten artist finalists for this year’s 2019 Bettija’rt | wine.art.living are Joseph Barbara, Claire Attard Vella, David Xuereb, Caroline Said Lawrence, Carmel Bonello, Zack Ritchie, Francis Galea, Priscilla Gatt, Donald Camilleri and Sara Pace.

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