About
Brooklyn-born/Borikén-based Yasmín Hernández’ work is
rooted in liberatory practices. Her 2009 exhibit Bieké: Tierra de Valientes, honoring activists who ended US Navy maneuvers on Vieques, inspired her 2014
rematriation, introduced her to bioluminescence and transformed her aesthetics.
In 2017 she exhibited in Occupy Museums’ Debt Fair installation at The Whitney Biennial. Months later, she and her family endured hurricanes Irma and María and their aftermath. Images of her East Harlem mural Soldaderas, honoring Julia de Burgos and Frida Kahlo, circulated with various relief efforts. Hyperallergic published her account as “An Artist’s Powerful Letter in Post Hurricane Puerto Rico.” The 2019 anthology, Voices from Puerto Rico: Post-Hurricane María includes her essay, “Liberation Lessons in Light”. Spending four months without electricity, the fireflies of those dark nights reignited her interest in bioluminescence. In 2018 she launched CucubaNación, a painting series lifting bioluminescence through the darkness of power outages, climate change and colonialism. In 2022 CucubaNación became an art space.
Her current project Rematriating Borikén explores the journey home with Puerto Rico Trench bioluminescence as a metaphor. Holding a BFA from Cornell University, she has worked with Taller Puertorriqueño, El Museo del Barrio, and the Studio
Museum in Harlem. She shares her work at YasminHernandezArt.com and RematriatingBoriken.com.