Obra: Perfil≠Rubrum, serie Gemas

*Perfil Rumbrum* reinterprets a personal archive to reflect on the construction of female identity and the cultural systems that have historically defined the value of women. The work takes its starting point from the cover of the Costa Rican magazine *Perfil* (August 1990), on which the artist appeared in her youth within an imagery associated with fashion, beauty and aesthetics. More than three decades later, that image is reclaimed through the language of painting to challenge the enduring nature of those models and propose a new interpretation of the portrait.

The composition retains the visual memory of the original cover, but replaces the editorial narrative with a landscape of rubies that supports the female figure. This transformation shifts the focus of the work from appearance to meaning: the woman is no longer defined by the public gaze, but by an identity built upon experience, wisdom and dignity.

The ruby—the artist’s birthstone, whose name derives from the Latin rubrum, meaning ‘red’—serves as a symbol of permanence, strength and uniqueness. The work engages with the figure of the virtuous woman described in the Book of Proverbs, where it is stated that her worth surpasses that of rubies. This reference transcends its biblical origins to become a universal reflection on what truly gives value to human beings.

Rather than reconstructing an image of the past, *Perfil Rumbrum* presents an encounter between two moments of the same identity. The young woman portrayed on a magazine cover and the woman who today revisits that archive coexist within the same pictorial space, establishing a dialogue between memory, time and transformation.

The work goes beyond the self-portrait to prompt reflection on the way in which we choose to view and understand ourselves. In this reinterpretation, the archive ceases to be a testimony to the past and becomes a contemporary affirmation of freedom, self-awareness and inner strength.