In Berenice Hernández’s artistic practice, the actual act of constructing and deconstructing is fundamental.
Om historien [On History] (2022), is part of a series of works consisting of fragile ceramic sculptures. Like small scaffolding that has been constructed of hundreds of layers of porcelain, created from sheets of paper and clay. Berenice Hernández methodically transforms the thin layers of clay into blocks, that she then proceeds to cut into smaller pieces and in turn join with the help of glazing, sometimes with Chamotte, glass and different non-ceramic materials such as thread and corn flour. She explains her penchant for building and demolishing as a consequence of her emigration to Sweden and a need to abandon one identity and build up another that works in the new context.
Hernández describes her artworks as models of “imaginary architecture” and “ghost architecture” since they depict places and buildings that exist only in the mind, like the drawing of a structure that was never built. The cracks, empty spaces and missing elements are just as meaningful as that which is whole and present, leaving the viewer with uncertainty as to whether the sculptures are about to collapse or in the process of being built.
Artist’s Biography Berenice Hernández
Berenice Hernández (b. 1982) lives and works in Leksand. She has a master in fine art from Konstfack CRAFT! and studied ceramics in Mexico City and at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts.
