January 16, 2023
Interview with Paul Borg
Interview with Paul Borg
In this video, Emilio Longo interviews Australian figurative painter, Paul Borg. Paul has spent over 35 years of his life depicting the people, landscapes and objects within the Western suburbs of Melbourne, namely in his hometown of St. Albans where he grew up and currently runs his school from, Paul Borg Art School. Paul attended the Western Melbourne Institute of TAFE in 1981 to complete the Tertiary Orientation Program (TOP) in Art and Design, in which he received a Diploma of Fine Arts. Following this, he studied at the Victorian College of the Arts where he received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in painting, in 1984. As well as maintaining his own practice, Paul has spent majority of his life teaching Art to students from around Melbourne, beginning as a TAFE teacher in the Diploma of Visual Arts program at Victoria University, a position he held from 1985 to 2014, and now continuing to teach from his own school. A finalist in multiple art prizes throughout Australia over the years, Paul’s approach to realism is partly based on the methods of the pre-twentieth century European Masters and partly set on a free-form intuitive process which he has developed over many years of experience, drawing and painting from life. Topics discussed include, growing up in a migrant Maltese family and how Paul’s Maltese heritage impacts his identity and work, travelling abroad to discover his ancestry and culture, as well as experiencing iconic artworks that helped him understand the craft of Western European painting. Supplementing this are valuable insights into his experiences in art school, teaching art for over 35 years, being an original committee member of West Space gallery in Melbourne, establishing his own art school in the Western suburbs of Melbourne, painting materials, techniques and processes, and his experiences of taking on portrait commissions over the years. Paul also sheds light on the meanings, ideas and symbology behind some of his key paintings and evaluates his overall place in the Melbourne art world.
Paul’s website: www.paulborg.com.au
Paul's email: [email protected]
Paul school's website (Paul Borg Art School): www.paulborgartschool.com.au
Paul’s website: www.paulborg.com.au
Paul's email: [email protected]
Paul school's website (Paul Borg Art School): www.paulborgartschool.com.au