Victoria Ruiz views costume as integral to daily life, particularly through Venezuela's carnival, which embodies history, joy, and resistance. Her work blends themes of nature, spirituality, and African diasporic religions, highlighting their roles in cultural adaptation. Raised in Caracas amid political violence, she recognizes uniforms as costumes that symbolize fear and solidarity. Through her series Para Tú Altar: Las Fuerzas Divinas de la Naturaleza, she references Cuban salsa artist Celia Cruz, linking music to Santería and its influences on identity and culture.
For me, costume has always been part of everything. Culturally, I grew up in Venezuela seeing costume not as something separate from daily life but as something deeply embedded in it, especially through the lens of carnival.
Carnival is in our blood. It's not just a festival; it's a way of expressing history, resistance, joy, and grief. A costume, at the end of the day, is something you wear that tells a story.
I realized early on that uniforms are also costumes. What people wore during those moments of violence or protest created powerful symbols. It was a kind of dark carnival.
In her series Para Tú Altar: Las Fuerzas Divinas de la Naturaleza, Ruiz draws upon seminal music by Cuban salsa artist Celia Cruz, who incorporated ceremonial Santería music into one of her early albums.
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