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 Tuesday, February 09, 2010
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Yasmin Hernández: Our Struggle, and Spirit, In Living Color |
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RAFAEL MERINO CORTÉS
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Thursday, November 11, 2004 |
  asmin Hernandez’s charm, radiance and conviction bears a strong resemblance to the deep and warm colors of her work. The Brooklyn-born Boricua is a graduate of Cornell University, where she majored in Painting and Latino Studies. She is the proud recipient of the Ramon Feliciano Social Justice Prize. In an interview with NY Latino Journal, Hernandez reflects on family, culture and the place of politics in art.
Rafael Merino Cortés: What was your earliest influence in the visual arts?
Yasmin Hernández: My earliest influence came from my immediate family. As a young girl, I would see my mom paint small murals throughout our apartment. She would paint flowers and birds in an attempt to bring the tropics into our Brooklyn apartment. At the same time, my brother was very much involved in the early 1980s graffiti scene, "bombing" trains in Dewey Yard and recording his pieces and sketches in black books. My mom then took a course in fashion design and it was with her art supplies that I began my first explorations with painting.
RMC: How much support (friends, family, school, etc.) have you received in your artistic development?
 YH: I have to break this one down. What I receive most from my family is inspiration. Aside from having inherited their creative genes, my mother's spirituality and my father's political nature greatly influence the content of my work. Although they are very proud of the work I've done, I know that they probably still wonder why I used an Ivy League education to become an artist. In our parents’ eyes, they want us to be successful both professionally and financially. I think all parents are trained to have a bit of apprehension when their child announces that they want to study art. Too many people still believe that artists are condemned to a life of struggle. Despite this, they never question my judgment and are highly supportive of my decisions. I am also blessed with unconditional support from my husband, who I started dating just before my freshman year in college (nine years ago) and has seen me develop into the artist I am today.
My friends are a great support. I have my artist friends to whom I can vent about art "issues". Then I have my cultural crew of friends who share my passion for culture, music, politics, and spirituality. I also have friends who may not necessarily share any of these interests, but we still vibe on a different level where we can share life experiences and just laugh together.
 As for support from school, in all college departments you have two types of professors: those who support what you do and encourage you to grow, and those who don't. The same goes for class peers. To be an artist, you have to get used to the critiques and just learn to distinguish between the constructive criticism and the ignorant comments. College is pretty much a microcosm of the "real world". The trick is to find those people that you can most identify with and vice versa. Thankfully, I had two professors in particular in my department that saw what I was trying to do and helped nurture that. In general, I think my high school, LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and the Performing Arts, gave me a solid foundation in the areas of discipline and technique. Also, I very much value my positive experiences at Cornell University, and was blessed to have a community of faculty, staff and students who were there to support me through the negative experiences.
RMC: Any mentors, or particular artists you admire?
YH: I have many mentors who may not even know that they are my mentors. Basically, anytime I have the opportunity to work with someone who is older than I am, I open myself up to all the lessons that can be learned from their experience. As for artists I admire, that are living among us right now, I love the work of Juan Sanchez, Pepon Osorio, Manny Vega and Daniel J. Martinez.
 NYLJ: What is your position on mixing art and politics?
YH: It is my opinion that as a Puerto Rican, knowing well that my identity has been very much shaped by more than 500 years of colonialism, any expression of mine must be of a political nature. Even in my website, where I divide my galleries by theme — political, cultural and spiritual, I still view the cultural and spiritual images as being political. In presenting images that speak to an Afro-Cuban tradition that was suppressed for centuries, that is in itself a political statement. The content, composition and aesthetics that make up my work all come from a very political place. This is usually the case when creating from the "margin".
RMC: What reactions have you received outside of the Latino community?
 YH: In general, I feel that people who are politically conscious, despite their race, are able to appreciate the work that I do --although an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer once described my work as "the harshest voice" in a show at the Balch Institute in 1998. They were referring to a painting of mine dedicated to the female Puerto Rican political prisoners. The word "harsh" is listed in the Webster Dictionary as meaning "disagreeably rough". So I guess that's one interesting reaction from outside the Latino community. Although to be honest, I don't spend too much time pondering those reactions. It takes enough effort to get through opposition that comes from within your community. Not all Latinos agree with the nationalist sentiments nor Santeria imagery in my work.
RMC: Any words to our young and aspiring artists?
YH: To all aspiring creators (cross-media and cross-genre), let your passion guide you. Society will try to discourage you from pursuing a creative field because money right now is what dictates success and honor, according to popular culture. However, for centuries, across the globe, artists and intellectuals were the ones credited with leaving marks in history. Their salary was never a measure of their impact. Also, the concept of the "starving artist" is one that needs to be dissolved. Artists can be just as educated (if not more educated) than your average corporate executive. The same principles that go into making a business succeed, such as marketing, budgeting and strategic planning are the same principles you should incorporate into your own creative/ professional endeavors. One thing I know for sure is that it feels so much better when you can apply these skills to your own mission rather than someone else's. And always let your measure of success be your happiness, not what others define as success and try to impose on you. Finally, artists document our experience, whether through film, paint, written or spoken word, music or dance. If we continue to let others do this for us, then how will we ever teach younger generations of the power and value of our culture?
Images of Yasmin Hernández work ©2002-2005 Yasmin Hernández
yasminhernandez.com
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