Valletta Contemporary Shop
Artist Interview: Enrique Tabone
Interviewed by Rachel Abdilla
August 2024
Enrique Tabone
Enrique Tabone (b. 1987) is a Maltese artist based in the UK, renowned for her innovative and thought-provoking sculptures and installations. She is the founder of the brand QUE, which showcases her unique artistic vision and craftsmanship. Tabone began her artistic journey during her teenage years, undergoing formal training at MCAST in Malta. Her academic pursuits led her to the University of Salford in Manchester. She remained in Manchester, where she is currently based.
Tabone's works delve into the complexities of human experience, often drawing from her rich Maltese heritage. Her pieces are recognized for their ability to provoke thought and elicit emotional responses, reflecting the diverse facets of human life and cultural identity. Through QUE, Tabone has successfully blended traditional influences with contemporary design, establishing herself as a significant figure in the art and jewelry world.
Rachel Abdilla (RA): What drove your interest into pursuing a career as an artist?
Enrique Tabone (ET): My creative inclination has been evident throughout my life. The magical feeling that comes from making something out of nothing, or very little, has always given me a good feeling about life. Seeing this sort of thing around me regularly as I was growing up, made art-making a natural element of my life. In time, I came to acquire some more specialised knowledge of art in terms of its practice and techniques, of course. These enabled me to pursue art as a professional career rather than something that’s a pastime or hobby.
RA: Your work tends to reflect and focus on the themes of the female body, nature, motherhood and feminism. These themes have been present since your early works. What piqued your interest to explore these themes?
ET: Throughout the history of art, the female body has been represented mostly by artists who are not women. As a woman and an artist, my perspective on the female body is a natural thing for me to reflect on. My work is rarely figurative but even then, my sensibility is personal in terms of the themes you’ve identified in my work. For me it’s not so much about gender but more so a matter of representation without unjust appropriation.
Platt by Enrique Tabone, QUE (Photo from QueStijl)
RA: The connection with art and nature is an aspect that has been explored by several other female artists. Who are the artists that inspire you?
ET: I was always very impressed by Louise Bourgeois, whose work encapsulates a totality of art that has great resonance with my own worldview. More recently, as I’ve developed a significant interest in data art, I’m in awe of Hedy Lamarr, who is perhaps better known as a Hollywood actor rather than for giving the world the technology that enables us to have wifi all around us.
RA: How does the Maltese cultural fabric, and artistic sphere influence your work? For instance ‘GO GO GO’ references Antonio Sciortino’s ‘Speed’, and Maltese prehistory has also been explored. Do you think it is important to you, as an artist, to keep in touch with your Maltese roots?
ET: The best storytellers retell the stories they know. They imbue them with their own characteristics and develop twists and turns within them that sometimes deviate from the original story. Overlooking my connection with Malta would be rather shortsighted of me. However, I certainly believe that the way to grow artistically must involve moving as far away from the familiar to evoke curiosity and wonder for other ways of seeing the world. All the while retaining as sense of yourself, in my case as a Maltese person, stays with you regardless of how physically removed from your native culture you chose to be.
Gold Dollmen by Enrique Tabone (Photo by Michaele Zammit)
RA: Within the context of Malta’s socio-cultural fabric, you also tend to explore subjects that are typically viewed as taboo on the Island. Do you feel the need to approach these subjects differently according to whether you are exhibiting your works locally or abroad? If yes, how do you approach these subjects locally?
ET: I rarely, if ever, seek to shock through my work. What I often aim to do is to offer my audiences an opportunity to think again about what they believe to be universal truths. Certain themes that hold particular meanings locally can change significantly when viewed overseas. However, the strongest elements are near universal to the human condition. For example, my depiction of vulvic symbols is a counterbalance to the predominance of phallic symbols in many places other than Malta.
Not Eve, silver necklace by Enrique Tabone, QUE (Photo by Rachel Abdilla)
RA: Plexiglass is a favoured material in your work, and has been used since 2009's Temptation. so much so, that it became a signature material in your work. What makes you opt for this medium?
ET: My long working relationship with plexiglass has evolved over the years. Initially my approach was experimental, as I worked with other materials. Metal was my first love. My shift towards plexiglass came in the early 2000s when I found a freedom in its unique qualities. I trained as a jeweller and the first plexiglass works I presented in a public appeared around 2007, when I started using it to make wearable art and jewellery. This gave me an up-close opportunity to learn about all the different ways to handle this medium to achieve the results I was after in my art. I should mention, however, that for my recent collection I’ve started working with silver again.
RA: Do you distinguish between you as the artist and QUE as a jewellery label, or are they facets of the same persona?
ET: QUE is a brand name by which the artist Enrique Tabone makes wearable art that’s accessible to a larger audience. My work ethic as an artist is identical to QUE’s and vice versa. Ultimately, it’s a question of access because while QUE products are easier to create and acquire, my work as an artist takes more time to create and present in exhibitions. What I love about QUE is that people are attracted to the work that without needing to know me or the brand. They want to have it as part of their collection, seeing it as an affirmation of their self-expression.
*All images in this article are of items currently in stock at the VC gallery shop.*
Night Creature by Enrique Tabone, QUE (Photo by Rachel Abdilla)