Ġulja Holland (b. 1990, Malta)

I make works that explores how we relate to the world beyond ourselves, especially at a time when those relationships feel increasingly unstable. My work draws on ecological systems, mythology, and the ways humans have historically positioned themselves as separate from or dominant over other forms of life. I am interested in imagining alternative worlds where these hierarchies begin to dissolve, and where humans, animals, and environments exist in more fluid and interdependent ways.

Working at the threshold between personal mythology and ecological memory, my paintings conjure speculative environments shaped by transformation and instability. Through shifts in scale and the inversion of human–animal relationships, I question inherited structures of dominance and centrality. Rather than approaching ecological crisis as an endpoint, I see it as a rupture — a space in which new symbolic orders can emerge.

My practice moves between drawing and painting, often leaving sections unresolved so that underlying structures remain visible. Each body of work begins with research spanning scientific imagery, mythological narratives, and contemporary socio-political contexts. These materials are assembled into digital collages, which I then translate into layered compositions using charcoal, acrylic, ink, and oil. Translucent washes and pentimenti allow earlier gestures to persist, creating a visual archaeology that mirrors the entanglements of ecology and myth.