"Third world ugly communist" is a series of self-portraits that reflect the political and social situation in Venezuela.
In the series, the character shows a transition from a stereotypical woman from the slums trying to buy some food and then trafficking the food to have some dollars and become a Miss Universe. This is metaphor attempts to talk about the economical, political and social issues of the country.
Due to the massive economic problem, people in Venezuela are fighting everyday for food. Poverty, shortages, and extreme violence levels, are some of the signs of the delicate condition in one of the most important countries of South America. This is a reality, but no one knows about it as the government heavily censors media and lobbies inside and outside the country.
At the same time, each day we confront the reinforcement of stereotypes of 'success and beauty’, a red herring apparently made to cover the whole situation the country is living. The same media machinery that is hiding certain realities is open to create and reinforce new fictions.
Apart from the oil, Venezuela is well known because it holds the most popular and glamorous beauty pageant contest, and we are one of the countries with more pageant winners in Miss Universe. For Venezuelans, the "misses" are a sort of role model to follow, creating expectations in little girls and frustrations in women. We idolise this contest to the point that people sometimes forget about the most important problems of our country.
This mixed world is what we, as Venezuelans, are living everyday. We don’t know where the reality ends and where the fiction begins.