“Liberty Asleep” is the name of this image by French artist Liliwen who paints it at a time when liberty needs to be awake.

Liliwenn. “Liberté endormie”. Vannes, France. May 2017. (photo © Liliwenn)

A painter of paradoxes, usually on wood or canvas, Liliwen has painted on walls in Los Angeles, London, Paris, Berlin and Buenos Aires, among others. She has taken three years off of wall painting since having a child, she tells us, and this is her first since then. As part of an event called “Vannes et sa street” in a walled town city of about 50,000 in the Brittany region of northwest France.

The mural of the nude woman is meant to speak to the fragility of humans as well as purity. She places the skull of a dove on the figure’s head and an olive branch in the hand. “It’s a poetic artwork and political at the same time, as everyday we lose a little bit more of our fragile liberty,” she says. “Some are waiting for an awakening of consciousness.”

Liliwenn. “Liberté endormie”. Vannes, France. May 2017. (photo © Liliwenn)

Liliwenn. “Liberté endormie”. Vannes, France. May 2017. (photo © Liliwenn)

Liliwenn at work on “Liberté endormie” (photo © “Vannes et sa street“)