Visual Art Portfolio
Broken/repurposed wooden chair, burnt and resembled with cotton yarn
Burro, a sculpture rocking donkey (repurposed wooden chair) that has been burned and charred to take ownership of the title, “Burro/a” as a symbol of my parents' love and fear for me and my education and how it has built who I am today. Burra pero nunca inutil (Burra but ever stupid).
Ink and cyanotype on (used) “Made in Mexico” bed sheet
Sangre Invisible, is a mixed media printed work on a made in México Bedsheet using broken metal hangers as stencils and the repetition of a plea for power, is a still yet loud piece that uses pattern to tangibly recite present nonconsensual sterilization and femicide of women working in Tijuana maquiladoras.
Burned leather/fabric sourced from swap meets and factory/artisan scraps, found objects, used nails/staples
This ongoing piece challenges the notion of completed work in a gallery space as it reflects my attempts to make sense of familial rejection and distance through manipulating repurposed textiles in an ever changing composition that mimics the instability surrounding my life at the time.
The textiles are burned with images of my family, many of my mother to understand where she came from and why her love is conditional to religious beliefs.
There are also added found objects to represent the domesticity encouraged in my culture in an effort to make peace with and find beauty in this as a language of love despite it being expected as a way to show love to men.
Crayon/Charcoal on repurposed paper
Melted crayons resembling the ones mented on seats of the family starter car are used to draw joyful memories from Hernandez’s life in Mexico as Charcoal pencil is used to document life across the border. Tackling religious memories, coming out stories and hardships in pursuit of a dream, the combined mediums map Natalia’s understanding of immigration and identity as a binational lesbian of color battling acceptance of only one identity per side.
Dyed cotton fabric, aluminum wire, yarn, 3'x6'
In response to imposter syndrome Muñeca is self portrait that takes up space in a Panzona, peluda, chichona, chillona, hermosa.
Bleach painting on twill fabric, pink leather paint, Aluminum wire; 2.5'x4.5'
Guadalupe portrays the bleaching of free will that follows the socialization of a little mexican girl and how little control yet deeply instilled mercy to Catholicism the gendered constructs exist in her mind and heart.
Bleached couch (used) and concrete cast Coas de agave (agave cutters), 60” x 36”
This couch displays an image of my father, sister, and I before having moved to the US. Having bleached the memory on there tangibly represents the change in significance a couch held for us after immigrating as it was then a space where we read in an effort to learn english. This ritual of passing along literacy to ensure respect and pride in this new country is mirrored by the history of the Coa agave cutters used on agave farms in Jalisco where my mother is from. Agave takes generations to bear liquid gold, as did my family to achieve the dream we set out for.