The Endless Spiral

Journey through stories of displacement, hope, and human resilience

Betsabeé Romero

The exhibition starts with the immersive installation Breaking the Perverse Frontiers of the Mirror, where concave safety mirrors that completely cover the room, observe and disturb the reflected image. Mapped and manipulated mirrors that accumulate physical and symbolic fractures. The work Fractured Footprints explores the suffering that borders cause: imposed lines that oppose necessity, survival, and understanding, scars that last a lifetime.

The Endless Spiral

By Gabriela Urtiaga, MOLAA Chief Curator

Betsabeé Romero’s exhibit explores mobility, memory, and migration through four interconnected installations. Beginning with cylindrical seals as universal memory instruments, the work questions historical migration experiences and the community’s role in dismantling border injustices. The artist reflects on culture as an internal refuge that survives despite external powers, ultimately creating a collective, ritualistic space where visitors can contemplate society’s past, present, and future through the forces of nature.

Fractured Footprint, 2024

A spiral of small, carved wooden shoe forms or lasts. The spiral starts with lighter-colored shoes at the center and gradually transitions to a darker, richer tone at the outer edge. The way the forms are arranged suggests a sense of movement or a path, drawing the viewer’s eye inward and then outward.

Ukraine-Russia

More than 10 million Ukrainians have left their homes since the beginning of the Russian invasion. Of them, more than 6.4 million have taken refuge in European countries (Germany – 1.1 million, Poland – 957,000 and the Czech Republic – 376,000). The count of Ukrainian civilian victims adds up to more than 10,000 deaths by 2023.

(International Organization for Migration)

Gaza Strip

Since 2023, 85% of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced from its territory. Currently the deaths reach 30,631 of which 2,360 are children.

(UN)

“My saddest moment was when I didn’t know what I was…getting lost in a new land.
My identity fractured, I carried the weight of a past I could no longer return to
and a future I was still searching for.”

Spain-Morocco

Migrants who died or disappeared on the sea route to Spain from 2019 to 2021 had a drastic increase of 45%, going from 474 to 2,170.

(International Organization for Migration)

Memories of a Moving Totem
Memorias de un tótem en movimiento, 2024.

GoKart wheels hand-engraved and painted with gold leaf, lace banners printed with silkscreen/Llantas de GoKart grabadas a mano y pintadas con hoja de oro, pendones de encaje impreso con serigrafía

Families Divided by Sharp Borders 
Familias Atravesadas por Fronteras Punzocortantes

By Gabriela Urtiaga, MOLAA Chief Curator

Variable dimensions / Dimensiones variables Families and signs made of tin cutouts with silkscreen and hand-painting / Familias y señalizaciones de recortes en hojalata con serigrafía y pintura a mano

The Shadow of the House 
La sombra de la casa también estaba rota, 2024

Courtesy of the artist, artwork commissioned by MOLAA / Cortesía de la artista, obra comisionada por MOLAA

2-color confetti folders, with silkscreen and painting on the wall / Carpetas de papel picado de 2 colores, con serigrafía y pintura sobre muro

Created with two-color confetti folders that are silkscreened and installed directly onto a wall, the artwork forms the ghostly, fragmented outline of a house. The title, “The shadow of the house was also broken,” suggests that the loss of a physical home is accompanied by the breaking of its very essence and memory, leaving behind a beautiful but fragile reminder of what was lost.

“A house is not a physical place,
but a culture we carry within that survives all shadows.”

Dreaming of Sunrise with Feathers in The Endless Spiral

This isn’t nostalgia—it’s reinvention. Each piece invites you to question progress, beauty, and the tension between craft and machine.

Romero’s vibrant suspended sculpture features a serpentine form crafted from colorful paper elements in warm yellows, oranges, and pinks, creating a dynamic spiral that flows through the gallery space as part of the exhibition.

Betsabeé Romero’s artistic practice spans multiple countries and cultures, enriching her exploration of contemporary critical issues through diverse lived experiences. Working across disciplines, she addresses migration, gender dynamics, cultural heritage, spirituality, and both personal and collective memory with acute social consciousness.

Her transgressive approach deliberately blurs categorical boundaries to expose systemic inequities, transforming individual artistic expression into collective advocacy. Through the intersection of art, social justice, memory, and cultural preservation, her work functions as a communal commitment to the greater good.