An artist's tribute to Malta holds a mirror up to the economic boom

It took six months of life in “sunny Malta” for an Italian artist to choose to portray its “cancer” in a digital artwork intended to capture the island he lost his heart to. The creation is complete with a Mafia-style gangster wielding a crane instead of a machine gun against a backdrop of… more cranes. “The time when a gangster’s power was in his weapons is over – more or less,” says William Daloiso about the menacing machinery in the hands of the Scarface-inspired character. He recalls counting 31 cranes during a jog in Spinola Bay – and these have made their way into the creation, looming over Valletta’s iconic skyline and hitting a raw nerve about the country’s cancerous construction industry. Although it’s hard to sum up a country in one image, he says it has a message he wants to convey: “A condemnation of the brutal impact of the economic boom.” Daloiso says it hurts when the power of the few ruins the beauty of an entire country. “As an Italian, I know something about that!” Fundamentally, he loves the island he calls his second home, replete with contrasts: at once traditional and modern, sacred and corrupt. But despite his unforgettable experience and memories of...