The Weeping Woman
"I'd try to wash away the noise of the weeping woman and the vision of dust, but it echoed in my head all day”
―Author Xiaolu Guo
La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is a prominent legend in Venezuelan folklore. It has been part of Latin American culture since the days of the conquistadores. Legend portrays her as a tragic figure driven by visceral emotions. She is an omen for a terrible fate; a singular universal image of suffering; a metaphor to represent the crude reality facing Venezuelans today. After decades of political mismanagement and months on the verge of economic collapse, the fate of Venezuela looks dire.
My work explores the parallels between La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) and Venezuela (The Weeping Motherland). The wore off face of the woman depicted represents the anguish experienced by mothers not having food to feed their family; and the harrowing grief of mothers, whose innocent children were murdered during numerous protests in Venezuela since 2014. With media severely controlled by the government, any glimmer of hope is reduced to mobile phones as a means to shape opinion and action internationally.
Arepa Hunger
Folds of Honour
Alone Together
Alone Together (in colour)
“The exhibition "In a country far, far away" tells of the sagas, myths and legends of many countries: from Sudan, Persia, Germany, Colombia and many other countries. We have lived in peace in Europe for 70 years. The media reports on wars in the world every day. This exhibition shows us life in all its beautiful and depressing facets. Dreams, desires and fears would determine people's lives then as now.”
— Helke Nolte-Ernsting, Bad Oeynhausen Deputy Mayor
“The exhibition only apparently takes us off into a distant world. It confronts us with the big questions in life. The pictures and sculptures would bring the ancient stories of the ancestors back to life.”
— Dr. Hanna Dose, Director of the Municipal Museums
Venezuela: The Weeping Woman Tryptych: Arepa Hunger | Folds of Honour | Alone Together
This project was shown In a Country Far, Far Away Exhibition, a cross border Group Art Exhibition of 76 UK and International Artists, inspired by fairytales, myths, and legends from countries in war and crisis, Art Pavilion, London from 1 -17 March 2018. The Exhibition travelled to the Deutsches Märchen- und Wesersagenmuseum (German fairy tale and Weser legend museum) in Bad Oeynhausen, Germany, 29 April - 16 September 2018. The London Exhibition was curated by Katja Rosenberg, Art Catcher Ltd., and supported by Tower Hamlets Borough. The Exhibition in Germany was curated and organised by Katja Rosenberg, in partnership with Dr. Hanna Dose, Museum Director, and supported by Deputy Mayor Helke Nolte-Ernsting.
Model / Stylist: Sonia Guzzo
Make-up Artist: Cristina Nogales
Assistants: Shaira Khan / Andres Montero
