This Maltese Artist’s Perfectly Geometric Illustrations Will Have You Running To A Tattoo Parlour ASAP
Good artists are nothing new in Malta, but sometimes, someone comes round and really makes you look twice. Well, say hello to linkasewda, and his intricately beautiful, black and white geometric illustrations.
His art has seen an astounding improvement over the past couple of months, leaving his followers in utter amazement at the beautiful works he is constantly producing. It has thankfully also led to a sharp increase in uploads, which keep getting better and better.
Lovin Malta sat down with this magnificent artist to get to know him and the ethereal illustrations he’s been giving birth to.
In the real world, linkasewda goes by Justin Borg, but his friends all know him as Bazaz. Justin is a sucker for tattoos and body piercing, and is also a bassist with local metal band Lady Lizard.
When asked about this peculiar pen name, he told us, “Ridt nuża lsien pajjiżi u l-lingwa li għallmitni ommi, il-Malti.” (I wanted to use my native language, the one my mother taught me, Maltese.)
Justin has multiple piercings and tattoos all over his body. “More than 70% of my body is covered in tattoos,” he says. “Getting them done involved some suffering. I honestly don’t care if some people in this society criticises me because of my appearance. For me, it’s as if my body is my very own dictionary; it tells my own story.”
Even though he’s a very talented artist whose illustrations would all be perfect tattoos, Justin explained why none of his tattoos were actually designed by himself. “I firmly believe that the artist needs to have the liberty to unleash his or her own creativity on my body,” he said. “I suggest what I want to the artist, but that’s all, the rest is in their hands.”
Justin has always been a creative. He mostly worked on geometrical shapes and patterns in the beginning — his interest in Islamic geometrical art pushed him to learn how to replicate these patterns and create his own sacred geometry.
At the beginning of his journey, he only focused on this geometric style, however as time went by he started experimenting with different kinds of styles, ink, pens and even paper textures.
Eventually, Justin started delving into linework, blackwork, dotwork and even cross-hatching. These styles all share the common quality of creating the illusion of shades and textures.
After mastering these techniques, he started developing his own style head on — an amalgamation of all four with some of his own style and spirit added to the mix, seeping his own visions into his artistic creations.
Needless to say, this is what makes linkasewda’s art so bewitching.
Justin’s inspiration comes from many places, but his job as a construction worker is one of his main influences “There’s a lot of geometry involved in building, and that really inspires me in creating geometrical art,” he says. “Apart from that, my own life events really inspire me. Sometimes I remember something or other that I experienced, and I express it through art.”
When looking at his work, one cannot help but feel as if somehow it’s inspired by illuminated manuscripts from eons ago, and it totally is. “Medieval art inspires me a lot, I really like it and whenever I see it something inside of me is stirred,” he said.
One of Justin’s most prominent series is the Zodiac one. When asked what has inspired him to start this, his reply was a surprising one.
“I do not believe in the Zodiac signs, so I decided to give myself a challenge — both to my beliefs and to myself as an illustrator,” he said. “I wanted to create my own version of them.”
“It bothered me that the Zodiac always looks exactly the same, so I gave it a bit of a twist, hence the darkness instilled in these illustrations.”
Sadly for everyone reading this, these beautiful works of art are not yet for sale, even though the demand is high.
However, Justin says that might be a plan for the foreseeable future. Till then, we’ll be waited with bated breath for even more from linkasewda!
What do you think of these amazing artworks? Leave us a comment below and tag someone who’d fall in love with them!
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