Dimensions: 10.5 cm x 8cm (diameter)
Date of the work: 2017
Medium: Plexiglass and indelible ink
Exhibition history: Malta Parliament (2017); Ministry of Gozo (2018); Malta International Airport Skyparks (2018); Trasparenza (2022)
There are two types of riddles: enigmas and allegories. Traditionally, riddles have been held to have a single correct statement solving the puzzle set by the riddler. Some riddles have double or multiple meanings, so it follows that they may also have more appropriate outcomes addressing the playfulness that veils their order. In Tabone’s My Riddle from 2017, the artist attempts to hide a meaning that tells a story still to be seen across several layers of, in her case, ink markings on seven transparent plexiglass disks.
In this work, the artist returns to a figurative image not seen in her work since 2010’s A Dazzle Escape. In some ways, it is safe to assume that the two works are connected through the artist’s private autobiographical experiences. Then again, different exhibition viewers have reported seeing different images, rather than a self-portrait of the artist, in this riddle.
