Mónica Alcázar-Duarte Residency

British-Mexican artist Mónica Alcázar-Duarte was selected for the 2022 Autograph / Light Work artist residency, to support the development of her series Second Nature. 

Every year, Autograph teams up with Light Work in Syracuse, New York – a non-profit, artist-run organisation providing direct support to emerging and under-represented artists working in photography. Autograph selects an artist to go on a residency at Light Work’s studios to pursue their personal projects: an exhibition, publication, printing, or even just space to think. They are provided with travel expenses, a stipend for living and production, a private darkroom, an apartment, and 24-hour access to Light Work’s photo and computer lab facilities. The residency has been running annually since 1996.

During the residency, Alcázar-Duarte continued work on her current projects Second Nature and Teilui Machilistli - Simulated Order, creating prints and developing a publication for these works.

In Second Nature, Alcázar-Duarte researched how search engine algorithms reinforce stereotypes by pre-selecting what images are seen online. She desires to make these power structures visible, and the impact of the biased thinking they perpetuate. Teilui Machilistli -  Simulated Order, the artist's recent project, uses technology and alter ego to explore the reversal of historical and imperial power relations between Britain and Mexico.