about
Sara Suárez is an artist, filmmaker and creative producer whose work envisions radical ways to create shared worlds. Her film and installation work explores forms of perception, vision, and observation, unearthing layers of spiritual meaning and ephemeral beauty in contested landscapes. Her work has been featured by Materials & Applications, L.A. Filmforum, Slamdance, Alchemy Film Festival, Chicago Underground Film Festival, and ICDOCS, among other venues. As a creative producer, Suárez creates gatherings and experiences of intellectual community, forming spaces of belonging and exchange across differences. She has produced over 100 live public programs at Zócalo Public Square, and co-created and produced virtual care lab, a series of more than 40 artist-led digital projects, gatherings and performances from 2020-22. Born in Washington, D.C., she now lives and works in Los Angeles, CA.
are.na
curriculum vitae
Exhibitions & Screenings
2024 “Tobacco Embers,” Meztli Projects & Ave. 50 Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2024 “Gathering Clouds” E2 Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Atmospheric Optics, Wedge Gallery, Burbank, CA
2023 No Song Unsung, Brea Gallery, Brea, CA
2023 Day/Dream, Materials & Applications, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Coaxial Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2022 Coaxial Arts, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Echo Park Film Center, Los Angeles, CA
2021 Chicago Filmmakers, Chicago, IL
2021 Oxford University, Oxford, UK
2021 Rockaway Film Festival, Rockaway, NY
2021 Feeler Gauge Festival, online
2020 Film and Video Poetry Society, New York, NY
2019 LA Filmforum, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Alchemy Film & Video Festival, Hawick, UK
2019 FRACTO Experimental Film Encounter, Berlin, DE
2019 ICDOCS (Iowa City International Documentary Festival), Iowa City, IA
2019 NOFLASH Video Show, Brunswick, NJ
2019 Los Angeles Is Endless Like A Scroll, Roundhouse Platform at WUHO Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019 body out of time, Pieter Performance Space, Los Angeles, CA
2019 Feminist Border Arts Film Festival, Las Cruces, NM
2019 Treefort Music Festival, Boise, ID
2019 Spatial Awareness Network, Los Angeles CA
2019 Slamdance Film Festival, Park City, UT
Grants, Fellowships, Residencies
2023 Supercollider SciArt Ambassador Fellowship, Los Angeles, CA
2023 Artist in Residence, Iowa Lakeside Laboratory, Milford, IA
2023 Artist in Residence, Materials & Applications, Los Angeles, CA
2021 “Digital And/As Public Space” Residency, The Bentway Conservancy, Toronto, Ontario (virtual)
2020 NAVEL ASSEMBLIES Collective Research Grant, Los Angeles, CA
2019 CalArts Postgraduate Teaching Fellowship, Valencia, CA
2018 Student Fellow, The Flaherty Documentary Seminar, Hamilton, NY
Public Presentations & Workshops
2023 place settings, Los Angeles, CA
2023 “Gathering Tides: A Dreaming Workshop (II-IV)” Materials & Applications, Los Angeles CA
2022 “Gathering Tides: A Dreaming Workshop (I)” Materials & Applications, Los Angeles CA
2022 Media Economies Design Lab, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (virtual)
2022 Interactive Architecture Lab, University College London, London, UK (virtual)
2022 Panel, “Visualizing Care: Digital Feminisms Between Archives and Networks,” Duke University, Durham, NC (virtual)
2021 Emerson College Civic Media Lab, Boston, MA (virtual)
2021 “Collective Rest Portal,” 4S Conference, University of Toronto (virtual)
2021 Panel, “Alternatives and Demands in Network Ruins,” Technoscience Research Unit, University of Toronto (virtual)
2020 Panel, “Public Programming: Simulation Symposium”, Texas Tech University College of Architecture (virtual)
2020 “Exploring Sleep and Dreams as a Collective Resource,” NAVEL, Los Angeles, CA
Press
Nathaniel Bahadursingh, “Materials & Applications hosts multi-sensory Day/Dream spatial project”, Archinect, 6/14/23
Ceci Moss, “How virtual care lab Builds Community in Online Spaces," Contemporary Art Review Los Angeles, 11/29/21
Kelly Rappleye, “Virtual Care Lab Creates Remote Connection,” Artillery Magazine, 3/9/21
Teaching Experience
2018-19 Adjunct Instructor/Postgraduate Teaching Fellow, CalArts School of Film/Video
Fall 2018: “Sound: Beyond the Eye” (sound design workshop)
Winter 2019: “Exploring the Sonic World” (sound design workshop)
2016-18 Teaching Assistant, CalArts School of Film/Video
Film History I (Fall 2016) Film History II (Spring 2017)
Post-Production Sound (Spring 2017)
SoundImage 1-2, Experimental Animation (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
SoundImage 1-2, Film Directing (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
Public Programming Experience
2019-24 Senior Manager of Programs & Operations, Zócalo Public Square, Los Angeles CA
2024 Programming Committee, Materials & Applications, Los Angeles CA
2023 Film Programmer, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ Film Festival
2020-22 Co-Founder and Co-Organizer, virtual care lab
2019-20 Film Programmer, Narrative & Experimental Shorts, Slamdance Film Festival
2018-19 Adjunct Instructor/Postgraduate Teaching Fellow, CalArts School of Film/Video
Fall 2018: “Sound: Beyond the Eye” (sound design workshop)
Winter 2019: “Exploring the Sonic World” (sound design workshop)
2016-18 Teaching Assistant, CalArts School of Film/Video
Film History I (Fall 2016) Film History II (Spring 2017)
Post-Production Sound (Spring 2017)
SoundImage 1-2, Experimental Animation (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
SoundImage 1-2, Film Directing (Fall 2017, Spring 2018)
Public Programming Experience
2019-24 Senior Manager of Programs & Operations, Zócalo Public Square, Los Angeles CA
2024 Programming Committee, Materials & Applications, Los Angeles CA
2023 Film Programmer, Reeling: The Chicago LGBTQ+ Film Festival
2020-22 Co-Founder and Co-Organizer, virtual care lab
2019-20 Film Programmer, Narrative & Experimental Shorts, Slamdance Film Festival
Education
2018 MFA, California Institute of the Arts
2015 BA, College of William & Mary