ANA MARIA HERNANDO
Gallery
Flower Revolution, III, Acrylic inks, organza and thread, on paper, 40” x 26″
Artist Statement
I am a multidisciplinary artist interested in empathy as a way of questioning the notion of the other, in making the invisible visible, and in the transformative, compassionate conversation of the universe.
As a child in Buenos Aires I watched my Spanish grandmothers and my mother come together to sew, crochet and embroider, sharing the everyday. The things they made from fabric and thread were expressions of their spirit. All the beauty – the hours of work, the washing and ironing – was made invisible as the tablecloths were later stained with food. I explore the unacknowledged feminine force of work as a kind of prayer that has been important to me my whole life.
In my installations, I include the handwork of other women to bring light to these almost invisible acts: embroidered petals made by cloistered Carmelite nuns, and starched Peruvian petticoats, for example.
It is my deeply felt intention to illuminate what occurs behind the veil, the pattern, or the political.