Suzy Villarruel is a social worker and doula with a strong community building background. Suzy has worked at various community-based organizations in Houston and internationally.
For details on work history, visit LinkedIn.
Inspired by her older sister Saydee, Suzy picked up film photography while in high school which she still practices till this day. Suzy is committed to preserving memory and promoting dignified living and healing through storytelling, archival work, and a socially-engaged practice.
Artist Statement
One of the earliest learnings in my social work practice was about harnessing the power of collective wisdom, ambition, and action. Community building is truly an art form of its own.
My practice explores the relationship between a person and a people, between the everyday and the sacred.
My inspiration comes from children of immigrants who embark on new experiences with no guide or model often while unpacking inherited trauma.
Some of my influences include anthropologists committed to the documentation and preservation of cultures and rituals. I am also heavily motivated by Afrofuturists that encourage us to reimagine our futures because even our imaginations are colonized.
“We do this because the world we live in is a house on fire and the people we love are burning.”
CV
Latinx Artists for ALMAAHH: We Are Houston
Women in Photo, Open Door Gallery Photo Exhibition
Rosa Rebellion COMPOSE Inaugural Cohort
March 2023
November 2022
Willow House Artist in Residency
August 2022
Poco a Poco Artist in Residency
January - Feb 2022
Withstand: Latinx Art in Times of Conflict, Participating Artist
April - October 2021
Juan Gabriel Eterno Annual Tribute, Curator
August 2017, Ongoing
Home & Away Art Exhibition, Curator
April 2023
August 2017