Artist turns gun cartridges into a filigree sculpture

An artist has transformed hundreds of spent gun cartridges into filigree as part of a sculpture to highlight the importance of sustainability and to breathe new life into the traditional craft.

Mark Borg sourced 150 brass pistol cartridges from local shooting ranges and melted them to create a black and gold piece of filigree – fine wire which is usually made of gold or silver. He then added 350 rusty washers he found on a Facebook recycling page to make a sculpture he named Eva.

Local filigree craftsman Mark Borg holding his new work, Eva. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Shaped using a mould made from a broken mannequin, Eva features a striking red female torso made from the washers, contrasted with the V-shaped filigree piece shown prominently at the neckline.

“Eva is a sustainable sculpture... offering new hope for filigree crafts that are dying over time,” he told Times of Malta.

It was one of the finalists in the recent Creative Business Cup – a yearly national creative start-up competition – and was snapped up by a buyer for an undisclosed sum after a showcase last week.

Describing the challenge of making the piece as “drastic”, Borg explained that the choice to repurpose rusty washers obtained through a recycling page on Facebook was also a creative one.

“The washers and negative spacing resemble our imperfections as people but, when viewed as a whole, one can see perfection,” Borg said.

“I wanted to create something from nothing and turn items which people would throw away without even thinking... into something beautiful and artistic,” he added.

Filigree is a craft dating back to classical antiquity involving the intricate use of gold or silver threads for jewellery or decorative purposes.

According to Borg, Eva was created to show the “symphony, beauty, strength and courage” of the female form.

“Red is the colour of fury, blood, love and sensuality, while filigree, intricate and beautiful, represents the thought processes of both men and women, thus showcasing equality,” he explained.

The material used for the sculpture.

Describing feeling “ecstatic” when he completed the work, Borg said he also hopes to breathe new life into a craft which he worries may die out.

“Filigree around the world is slowly dying because less people are showing interest in learning the craft... it requires effort and dedication but it’s not as hard as people imagine,” he said.

Independent craftsmen in Europe also struggle to remain competitive in the face of cheaper filigree imported from Asia, he added.

By taking filigree out of the crafts space and into the art world, Borg hopes to raise its profile and develop new appreciation for the ancient skill.

Innovation is also important, he stressed, pointing to recent works using non-traditional metals and those featuring moving parts.

Borg has been crafting filigree since he was 13 years old and is known for his work in so-called ‘kinetic filigree’.

In January, Borg completed Simple Harmonic Wave, a work featuring mechanised moving parts inspired by his experience with aircraft maintenance and passion for filigree.

The piece was entered into the Premju Ġieħ l-Artiġjanat Malti (Maltese Craft Awards), and followed a prior submission by the craftsman last year inspired by Leonardo da Vinci’s designs for an ornithopter, an aircraft that flies by flapping its wings.

Despite not winning the recent Creative Business competition, Borg – competing under the name Filigree Jewellery Malta – was awarded a creative business development award from Arts Council Malta worth €1,500.

The winning entry was Wanderer’s Tome, a tabletop role-playing games studio launched in 2021 by Maltese sisters Fleur and Chelsea Sciortino.