Unseen Embrace

by Olaug Vethal

• Vinyl Acrylics on canvas
• 135cm by 96cm stretched
• 139cm by 100cm framed
• c. 1995- 2005

In Unseen Embrace, Olaug Vethal intertwines the human figure through sweeping lines and warm passages of orange, pink, red and ochre. Bodies overlap and fold into one another, their individual boundaries becoming increasingly difficult to separate.

Within Beyond the Visible, the painting explores the intangible bonds that exist between people. The embrace is physically visible, yet the emotions it contains: affection, intimacy, trust and vulnerability, cannot themselves be seen.

Vethal transforms the body from something observed into a vessel for human connection. Unseen Embrace suggests that what exists between two people may be as significant as the bodies
themselves: an invisible space in which touch becomes emotion and physical closeness becomes something beyond the material.

This work is currently hung at Spazju A, Spazju Kreattiv, Valletta until 25th October 2026 as part of the exhibition ‘Beyond The Visible | The Metaphysical Worlds of Olaug Vethal, curated by Christine Xuereb and in collaboration with Christine X Art Gallery