Gissela Sandoval

BFA Drawing

Website: gsandov2.wixsite.com/gisselasandoval

ARTIST STATEMENT: Las Mariposas Mirabal is a piece that honors the Mirabal sisters that were assassinated on November 25th, 1960. Patria (left), Minerva (middle), and Maria Teresa (right) were seen as threats by Rafael Trujillo, who served as President from the Dominican Republic in the 30s and late 40s and spent the rest of his life as a military leader. He was a tyrant that imprisoned, tortured, and assassinated political opponents and citizens who spoke against the government. 

The sisters joined a group called the 14th of June Movement and their code names were the “mariposas,” the butterflies. Their mission was to raise awareness of Trujillo’s corrupt acts but were eventually caught alongside their husbands. Due to outside influences the sisters were eventually freed but their husbands remained imprisoned. On November 25th, 1960, they were murdered by Trujillo’s secret police while they were on a trip to visit their husbands in prison. There was an attempt to cover up their assassination by making it look like a car crash . The truth came out the following year when Trujillo confessed before he was assassinated. The United Nations General Assembly honors the anniversary of their death as the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women.  

This year marks the sixtieth anniversary of their death. With this drawing I would like to honor and raise awareness of who they were and the impact they made on the world. Adorned with flowers and patriotic imagery of their home country, standing peacefully surrounded by butterflies in the last place they were alive.