About the Berlin Wall

There is a remnant of the Berlin Wall in Mauerpark, in the district of Prenzlauer Berg. For decades, graffiti artists have marked this historic piece of concrete, trying to turn something horrible into something beautiful. They have succeeded, and tirelessly, they express all kinds of ideas through shapes and colors.

During one of Ligia's walks while exploring Berlin, she visited Mauerpark, and saw where these remains of the Berlin Wall still stand as a memorial to a dark period in history. Over the years, large portions of the wall have been re-painted over and over again by the graffiti artists, which has caused layers to build up and then peel away in some places.

Ligia was fascinated by the colors in these layers, and considered doing something with them. She had many ideas, but her first act was to photograph these wonderful pieces. In time, she began to carry out her other ideas, digitally drawing over her photos of the Berlin Wall, incorporating its contours, holes, cracks, and peeling paint into her drawings, and turning this relic of ugliness and brutality into something beautiful.

Ligia says:

"I hate the Berlin Wall for all it represents in history, for the suffering it inflicted on so many people, for the deaths of those who tried to overcome it, for the ignorance, brutality, and arrogance of those who built it. But I love parts of it, so colorful, so inspiring, so delicate. Berlin does that to me, and I think that's great.”

About street posters

The layers of graffiti peels fascinated Ligia since always. But now, she starts to notice that the torn street posters have the same characteristics: colours, layers, change, history. So, in this new collection, she uses them as background for her illustration.

About the women

Ligia began to think about the parallel between the destruction of the wall and the walls that women have to tear down every day.

She was born in 1966, and, at the young age of 23, worked as an electrical engineer on a factory floor. She remembers how much machismo she had to face in that male-dominated environment, and that the only way she got through it was thanks to the self-esteem she built up from the abundance of love her family gave her.

Berlin and its layers of history, art and culture are extremely interesting for Ligia, who believes that it is possible to translate the female universe in the same terms: each woman is full of overlapping layers that tell stories. All fight for a space, while making the world more beautiful and interesting.

Today, she wants to commemorate how women can be powerful together and turn the world into a better, more beautiful, and just place to live.

About the empowerment

Ligia wants to show that it is possible to transform horror into beauty, and that it is possible to be both tough and delicate at the same time in the way that only women can.

Her drawings show women of all kinds, ages and ethnicities, but they are always strong, beautiful, powerful, and ready to face the world with humor and resolve.

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