Mileana Borowski, Ngozi Emeka, Suad Mohamed, Patrick Wolesky, Trent Ramirez
Mixed Media on Panel
In this piece the Statue of Liberty moves through different environments as the quality and fullness of the image changes. In both the photoshopped and hand-drawn renditions, a hand pinches out the flame of Lady Liberty’s torch in the same manner one would pinch out the flame of a candle to put it out. Smoke billows out from Lady Liberty’s torch, white on a black background in one version, while black and gray on a white background in the other. The image and illustration are ripped up and fit back together, creating a collage full of tension and energy. Lady Liberty gains agency juxtaposed with protestors holding their fists up against a fiery background, or tucked behind a firefighter hosing down a fire, their hose now aimed at Lady Liberty’s torch.
Our work aims to highlight the importance of liberty in political life. This piece was influenced by Federalist Paper 10, where James Madison draws an analogy between liberty and the air that we breathe. A primary quote from his work which inspired us:
It could never be more truly said than of the first remedy, that it was worse than the disease. Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction, than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.
Just as air should not be eliminated just because it fuels fire, liberty should not be eliminated from society even though destructive factions can be a product of our rights. We build upon Madison’s assertion that liberty is essential for the function of a democratic society with the core statement of our work being, “Liberty is to faction as air is to fire.”