Erika Nina Suarez
Erika Nina Suarez (she/her) is a photographer currently living and working in Fort Worth, TX. Suarez moved to Texas in 2012, from West Palm Beach, FL. She completed a BFA in photography at The University of North Texas in 2019. Her work is primarily made utilizing an analog medium format view camera. Suarez’s current work highlights concepts of intimate familial relationships, the passage of time, and introspectively investigates her own learned behavioral patterns within a multigenerational Hungarian and Nicaragüense household. At this time, she is currently working on an extension of her current body of work “Család.” This section will examine a unique type of Hungarian agricultural tourism that her family has been practicing for over a century.
Suarez’s work has been featured in exhibitions across Texas including: 500x Gallery, Texas Woman’s University, The Fort Worth Community Arts Center, The Greater Denton Arts Council, The Daughtery Arts Center, and The University of North Texas Union Art Gallery. Her work is currently being exhibited in 500x Gallery’s Hot & Sweaty virtual exhibition. You can view the work here: http://www.500x.org/
család
In order to explore the ever-changing dynamic between individuals that are in complex and multi-layered relationships, Erika Nina Suarez is focusing on those closest to her. She first began this project by studying her relationships with her parents, siblings, and grandmother, who visits when the weather changes. She executed these images by examining recognizable behaviors and traits that were of interest to her. As the project evolved, she soon began to notice through a severe lens, that she’d become estranged from her family. Each weekend trip to see them felt shorter and colder than the last.
By allowing the experience to dictate the perspective, Suarez found herself doing more self-exploration. In this ongoing body of work, Suarez continuously highlights themes that examine her point of view as a voyeur within her own family, endearment towards “found” family, and the spaces within the home that continue to serve as places of emotional attachment to her subjects.