FiftySix Design Talks: Through Her Eyes

How do we come to know ourselves when the gaze is our own? This month’s FiftySix Design Talk welcomes Nina Gerada and Anna Calleja, two artists whose practices explore self-portraiture through the layered lens of the female gaze. Their work does not simply depict the self—it emerges from lived experience, drawing on memory, care, material, and the emotional labour of becoming. From the therapeutic reflections of motherhood to the suspended spaces of longing and belonging, both artists offer deeply personal processes that trace the self as something felt, shaped, and continually redefined.

Nina Gerada: Mapping the Self in Material

Nina Gerada

Nina Gerada works across disciplines, drawing on her background in architecture, urbanism, and design to create sculptural forms that reflect the embodied experience of motherhood. Her practice is both reflective and restorative—an intuitive, therapeutic process where clay becomes a vessel for navigating identity, care, and transformation. The female gaze, in her work, is not concerned with being seen, but with making space for the unseen: for the labour, tenderness, and authorship embedded in the act of making.

Anna Calleja

Anna Calleja: Between Image and Memory

Anna Calleja constructs her paintings from fragments of personal archives—both remembered and imagined—drawing out moments suspended between longing and distance. Her surfaces are emotionally charged and deliberately unresolved, transforming inherited symbols into contemporary reflections on intimacy, grief, and belonging. Within her visual language, the female gaze operates as both subject and witness, negotiating dualities with quiet strength.

Through Her Own Eyes takes place on Wednesday 30th July 2025 at 18:30 at the Valletta Design Cluster, featuring Nina Gerada and Anna Calleja in a focused evening exploring the female gaze and self-portraiture in contemporary practice. Each artist will give a short talk on how these themes shape their work, offering insights into process, identity, and authorship. RSVP now to attend this intimate edition of FiftySix Design Talks.

FiftySix Design Talks is an exciting collaboration between The Golden Glitch and the Valletta Design Cluster. This dynamic partnership brings together artists, designers, and innovators for a series of talks that explore the intersection of tradition and modernity in design. It’s a space where time-honored crafts meet contemporary ideas, all hosted within the historic walls of Valletta.

Connect & Inspire:

After the talks, stay for a mingle session. Connect with fellow creatives, share ideas, and get inspired over a glass of wine in the stunning surroundings of Valletta.