Dimensions: 61cm x 17cm x 10cm Date of the work: 2018/2019
Medium: Plexiglass
Exhibition history: Trasparenza (2022)
*created from remains of NAĦLA
Roses are bittersweet flowers. They look and smell wonderful, but their thorns can cut you badly. The same goes for bees, whose honey is delicious and their pollination actually essential to the propagation of whole floral ecosystems. Then again, there are instances in life when the bitter sting that comes from otherwise delightful living beings mars the beauty and joy they can provide.
Looking at Niggieża, these thoughts are very fitting to understand what this work of art is about; niggieża is the Maltese word for stinger. Assembled from a substantial part of the remnants recovered from the destroyed Naħla [item 09], this work captures the essence of the sting without any joy.
Without the sad context that led to its creation, Niggieża can also evoke the darkness of the Sleeping Beauty fairy-tale, wherein the princess pricks her finger on a spindle and falls asleep, only to be woken later by true love’s kiss. The existence of Niggieża makes for its own happy ending as this work is quite a striking piece of art, with or
without the context that produced it.
