Sinking Liberty 1/3 is a politically charged meditation on the erosion of democratic ideals, rendered with the precision and permanence of mono-engraving on aluminum — a material choice that elevates street-art imagery into the realm of fine craft. Fairey's use of the Statue of Liberty as a sinking, imperilled symbol draws directly from his OBEY movement's tradition of appropriating icons of power and recontextualising them as warnings rather than reassurances. The aluminum substrate gives the work an industrial, almost archival quality, suggesting that this moment of political fragility deserves to be memorialised rather than overlooked. As the first in a triptych, it sets a tone of urgent civic concern that runs through the series, reflecting Fairey's belief that art must function as a form of active resistance. The mono-engraving process, with its deliberate, unforgiving marks, mirrors the irreversible nature of the social and political decay the image depicts.