Sculptor Esterio Segura said all he wanted to do as a young boy living in Cuba was fly.
“When I talk about flying, I talk about freedom,” he said. So rather than becoming a pilot, he decided to express this freedom of flight through art.
Titled “Hybrid of a Chrysler”, the 1953 Chrysler limousine boasts a set of airplane wings attached to the roof. It was designed to embody the dreams of Cubans attempting to emigrate from the country and start a new life elsewhere.
Many Cuban immigrants who immigrated after the revolution would pose next limousines in pictures they sent home to their families, Segura said. This was one tangible way they could prove their progress.
However, the sculpture is just half of the story. Segura initially built a similar sculpture in Havana. He said it was challenging to ship the original completed piece out of Cuba since American cars rarely got permission to leave.
“From the beginning, it was very difficult to get a passport for the car,” he said. The struggle to get the piece out of the country only added to the meaning behind it, Segura said.
This prompted Segura to build the second model in America dubbing it “the passport version.” This version is now displayed outside of the Harn Museum while the original “retained version” remains in Havana, Cuba.
Segura’s art combines humanity with machinery while also creating an illusion of movement in each piece.
“I like to do work that looks like it moves,” he said. Segura relates the illusion of movement in his work to how Cuban’s falsely felt they too were moving forward during the revolution.
Segura was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba in August of 1970. He graduated from Instituto Superior de Arte in Havana, Cuba.
An accomplished and internationally recognized artist, his works can be found in collections around the world: The Museum of Modern Art in New York City, NY, Banff Centre Museum of the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL and the University of Essex in the United Kingdom.
Segura was just one of 54 other artists who contributed over 70 works to the Harn’s exhibition titled “Under the Spell of the Palm Tree: The Rice Collection of Cuban Art." The display is part of a special exhibition focusing on the history of Cuban art in the 20th and 21st century.
Guest curator of the exhibit Gabriela Azcuy gave a quote from a Professor Zimmerer regarding Segura’s art: “Crowded with fantastic ideas and strong images, Segura’s work resonates with the angst of the Cuban people.”
The exhibit will be on display at the Gladys Gracy Harn Exhibition Hall until January 7, 2024.