Nina Surel

Nina Surel’s full-size women, intriguing and characterized by an aristocratic, fairytale allure, are portrayed against a richly decorative background. They are innovative works, inspired by the artist’s interest in romantic female literature. hey depict women reenacting their fantasies, their disguises, their sub-conscious desires so often repressed in everyday social situations. Nina Surel’s whimsical figures, depicted on the edge of a wood, always originate from a photographic self-portrait, dressed differently each time and adorned with flowers or jewels until she takes on a new identity. A self-portrait of an intentionally inexpressive face, as if to embody the essence of the mercurial, mysterious world of women. Surel’s wood is a kind of set, a background narrative, but also an archetypical place tied to states of psychological conscience or unconscious, to what is permitted or forbidden. The artist uses a wide range of techniques in her works: photography, painting, collages of lace, buttons, chinaware and jewels fixed to the substrate with layers of clear resin. Nina Surel seems to investigate her own true identity as a woman and artist through her sensual images, in a kind of personal re-writing of female history. Nina Surel was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and lives and works in Miami since 2001. She studied at the Architecture & Urban Planning University of Buenos Aires. Her work has been exhibited widely in institutions, galleries and art fairs both in the United States and South America.