Daniela Torres

Ultra Contemporary Medusa is a reimagined self-portrait inspired by myth and lived experience. In Greek mythology, Medusa was a beautiful maiden who was turned into a monstrous Gorgon by Athena as a cruel and unfair punishment for being raped by Poseidon in the goddess’s temple. Blamed and punished for a crime she didn’t commit, Medusa is still a symbol of women’s suffering and rage, and the myth resonates as a critique of how society often vilifies victims of sexual violence, highlighting the gendered double standards surrounding sexuality and the enduring consequences of such trauma.
In Daniela Torres’s version, Medusa’s head sprouts flowers, a symbol of renewal, instead of snakes. By reclaiming this figure, she casts Medusa not as a monster but as an emblem of transformation and rebirth after the experience of trauma, and offers an image of empowerment.