Nina Surel
Bio
Nina Surel was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She is a multidisciplinary artist based in Miami, Florida. Nina studied fashion design at the Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina, and trained in costume and set design at the Teatro Colon's lnstituto de Arte, also in Buenos Aires. In 2001, she moved to the United States and started to focus solely on her art. Her work has been exhibited in institutions and galleries in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.
Her work explores archetypes by incorporating elements from an array of sources. She looks to art history, New Age culture, telluric elements, and ritual practice to address the universe of the feminine with a personal and introspective emphasis. In an ever-growing range of techniques, among them video, photography, sculpture, and installation, she questions the logics innate to vital processes part and parcel of womanhood and the passage of time. She is the founder and coordinator of Thecollective62, an independent art space devoted to creation outside the traditional circuits of art through regeneration that derived from creation and community-based workshops, located in Liberty City, Florida.
Statement
Finding Gravida Series is a photo from a bas-relief mural created by the Argentinian American artist, Nina Surel, during the initial months of isolation as the pandemic began to unfold (2020). The glazed terra-cotta clay figures bring to life a juxtaposition of techniques inspired on a still from the video of her performance, Gravida (2019).
“Gravida was a healing ritual performance where I brought together 31 women of all ages and walks of life. Among them were doulas, shamans, healers, and conscious movers, all with a connec- tion to fertility practices. The turning point of the performance took place when 400 pounds of red clay, (which was later reused in the creation of ‘Finding Gravida’), were placed in the center of the room. The red clay became the medium of connection to discover one another and explore themes of unity, femininity, vulnerability, and spirituality.”
Gravida is a tribute to primal femininity and women who have experienced their bodies to their fullest potential.
