The circular nature of my ancestors' migration, transformed the middle passage from a site of subjugation into one of liberation. Liberia's national motto, "The Love of Liberty Brought Us Here," gave me the name and spirit of, Liberty, whose presence can be felt throughout my work.

I investigate how materials and symbols carry memory and cultural weight and become expressions of freedom or collective power. Liberty is a diasporic figure who holds plurality and imagines what the archive omitted.

Liberty and the gourds embody the same spirit. The oldest domesticated plant, inseparable from African traditions of spirituality, music, and domesticity. I think of it as the oldest womb, holding, seeds, water, and life. My sculptures reach up and down at once, growing limbs, breasts, and horns that blur the line between defense and expansion. The gourd serves as a stand in for the Black female body, mirroring how our labor, our love, and our bodies remain resources at risk of exploitation.

Drawing on Liberian masquerade traditions, raffia, a veil, and black body paint are paired with hats, heels and nylons to create a presence that feels both ancestral and immediate. Depictions created to oppress become symbols of beauty, autonomy, and unity. I invite other Black women to embody and perform as Liberty, and with each collaboration and iteration her purpose grows.

Liberty subverts expectations. She is the spirit of liberation that keeps blossoming, returning, and surviving.