LIBERTY: A New Meaning of Freedom

For this edition of ArtEXPO, I created “Liberty”, a brand-new artwork inspired by Freedom from my collection Female Portraits: Looking Back to the Past. Since its debut will be in New York, I decided to reinterpret the city’s iconic symbol, giving it a new meaning connected to the story of Maryury, the protagonist of the piece, and the reality of so many migrants around the world.

In “Liberty”, freedom is not a certainty but an open question, an ongoing struggle. The central figure, a Black woman with a profound gaze, holds the torch with deliberate ambiguity—does she raise it with strength, or is she about to let it go, exhausted by the weight of the fight? The crown, a symbol of power and hope, becomes a reminder of both resilience and the burden of being a migrant in a world full of visible and invisible barriers.

Inspired by the story of Maryury, a migrant woman who fled instability in Venezuela and later suffered gender-based violence in Spain, this piece becomes a reflection of the global diaspora. Millions migrate every day, not just out of the desire to thrive but out of the necessity to survive. The Statue of Liberty was conceived as a beacon of hope for those arriving in the United States in search of a new life. However, today, immigration policies contrast with that message, and freedom seems to depend more on legal status than on an essential human right.

“Liberty” challenges us to question what it truly means to be free. Is it a granted right or a personal conquest? Is it a final destination or an endless journey? In Maryury’s gaze and in the faint glow of the torch still burning, the answer awaits.