The Statue of Liberty will soon make an appearance in miniature on New York's High Line in an exhibition of maquettes of the 12 shortlisted proposals for the High Line Plinth, the elevated park’s upcoming public art platform. The Alaska-based artist Paola Pivi’s proposal, Untitled, is a 20-foot high replica of Lady Liberty—whose likeness has been popping up on protest posters and in political cartoons in the wake of the president Donald Trump’s contested immigration ban—but with a timely twist. Pivi’s plan would put a different inflatable mask on the statue’s face each week, each featuring a cartoon-style face of “a person who has gained his or her freedom in the United States, or who aspires to do so”, according to a press release on the exhibition, with the stories of each subject posted online. Behind the work is the story of Pivi’s adopted son’s immigration to the United States, a four-year ordeal for the family.
The maquettes of all 12 shortlisted projects will be shown on the High Line at 14th Street from 10 February until 30 April, and visitors will be able to leave comments. Two of the projects will be selected and will go on show for successive 18-month periods after the High Line Plinth is launched, scheduled for next year.