Gloria

Gloria is 90 years old and still makes a living selling lottery tickets at the 7 de Agosto plaza in Bogotá. Her voice is soft yet firm, and her slow steps do not hide the determination of someone who has spent decades walking the same streets. Each number she offers is also a form of resistance: a way of remaining upright, visible, active.

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This circular portrait, created with acrylic markers on a surface intervened with aerosol, combines the realism of Gloria’s face with an explosive background of graffiti and color, creating a dialogue between the living history of an elderly woman and a visual language that is urban, young, and contemporary.

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Emotional textures emerge in every stroke of her skin, where the years do not weigh her down: they illuminate. The use of vibrant colors upon wrinkles and shadows becomes a way of dignifying time, not of hiding it. The artwork is a tribute to everyday persistence, to the beauty that inhabits the margins, and to the power of women who, like Gloria, continue to bring life to public spaces.

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It belongs to the Colombian Models series, a project that seeks to portray working women invisibilized by the rhythm of the city, and to honor their stories with color, presence, and memory. A percentage of the sale of this piece will be given directly to Gloria, as a symbolic act of recognition and reciprocity.