ABOUT
I make abstract work that explores trauma, connection, and discovery through an embodied lens. I am interested in how emotions and experience live in the body, and how they interrupt or transform the flow of life. My work investigates the complexities of human relationships; tracing the ways power, compromise, and intimacy shape our inner and outer worlds. The infinite mystery of the body continually reveals its quiet wisdom to us about who we are and how we belong.
Using abstract ribbon-like forms, I create visual metaphors for emotional or structural or psychic dynamics. These flowing shapes are often pushed, pulled, interrupted, or entangled; revealing moments of tension, resistance, and surrender. Ribbons twist, split, converge, and spiral in a visual dance of give and take.
My drawings are built slowly through meditative layers of crosshatched colored pencil and wax pastel. This process produces soft, textured surfaces that invites close looking and quiet attention. Through this work, I offer a space for emotional resonance and an opportunity for viewers to discover their own inner darkness and mystery, and the possibility of light within.
BIO
Alanna Hernandez (b. 1988) grew up on Cape Cod, and graduated from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2010, where she earned a B.A. in Middle East Studies. During this time she gained some formal art training, as well as education in history, religion, and language. Her work combines her formal education in the arts and humanities, exploration of spirituality, and self-taught art skills. She has lived in Midcoast Maine since 2018. She has shown work in London and New York, and recently finished a residency at Monson Arts in Maine.
CV
Solo and Duo Exhibitions:
2025 FOLLOW THE DARKNESS DOWN, online solo exhibition, Purslane Art, London UK.
2025 HOME BODY, duo exhibition with Carla Weeks, Primary Gallery, Miami, FL
2023 UNDER THE STRAIN, solo exhibition, Soho Revue Gallery, London, UK
2022 SENSE STREAM Purslane Art, online solo exhibition, Purslane Art, London UK. https://www.purslane.co.uk/sense-stream-alanna-hernandez
2022 DRAWING WITHIN, solo exhibition, Interloc Projects, Rockland, ME
Group Exhibitions:
2024 ARTFEEDS, group exhibition and benefit auction, Page Gallery and AIO Food Pantry, Camden, ME
2024 ART YOU LOVE AUCTION, group exhibition and auction to support the Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
2023 WINTER EXHIBITION, group exhibition, Parsonage Gallery, Searsport ME. 2023 LITTLES, group exhibition, Elizabeth Moss Gallery, Falmouth, ME
2023 ABSTRACT 2.0, group exhibition, Room 57 Gallery, NYC, NY
2023 ARTFEEDS, group exhibition and benefit auction, Page Gallery and AIO Food Pantry, Camden, ME
2023 SPRING, group exhibition, Primary Projects, Miami, FL
2023 LATENT DREAMING, group exhibition, See Food Room, Hong Kong
2023 CENTER FOR MAINE CONTEMPORARY ART BIENNIAL, juried group exhibition, Center for Maine Contemporary Art, Rockland, ME
2022 INSIDE DRAFTSWOMEN, group exhibition curated by Christine Brey, Feinkunst Kruger, Hamburg, Germany.
2022 ARTPM, group exhibition, Buoy Gallery, Kittery, ME.
Residencies and Awards:
2025 Innovate Artists Grant Winner, https://innovateartistgrants.org/alanna-hernandez
2025 Monson Arts Resident, https://monsonarts.org
Press:
2025, Innovate Artists Grant, "Alanna Hernandez's Home Body", https://innovateartistgrants.org/interview-alanna-hernandez-home-body
2023, Winsor & Newton, "Through the Eyes of Alanna Hernandez, London, UK
https://www.winsornewton.com/blogs/artists/alanna-hernandez
2023 March 22, The New York Times, "Hong Kong's New Kids on the Block", NY, USA
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/22/arts/design/hong-kong-galleries-new.html?searchResultPosition=5
2023 February 12, The Portland Press Herald, "Identity, Environment, and Resourcefulness all Served up at The Excellent CMCA Biennial", Portland, ME, USA https://www.pressherald.com/2023/02/12/identity-environment-and-resourcefulness-all-served-up-at-the-excellent-cmca-biennial/
2022 June, L'Officiel Mexico, "Trauma and human relationships under the artistic magnifying glass of Alanna Hernandez", https://www.lofficielmexico.com/arte-y-cultura/alanna-hernandez-arte-contemporaneo
2022 May, ArtMaze Magazine, Issue #27, London, UK
2022 January Booooooom Artist Spotlight, https://www.booooooom.com/2022/02/01/artist-spotlight-alanna-hernandez/
2021 August, ArtMaze Magazine, Issue #23, Curated by Julie Tuyet Curtiss, London, UK
2017 December, Birdy Magazine, Denver, CO
2017 August, Birdy Magazine, Denver, CO
2017 July, Birdy Magazine, Denver, CO
Collections:
Education:
2010 University of Massachusetts Amherst, Bachelor of Arts in Middle East Studies.