Artists on Mitchell: Ana María Hernando

I didn’t grow up knowing about Joan Mitchell; I probably began to notice her work after I moved to the US. Usually in a room, she's paired with mostly male artists—and always her presence is so strong. When you see Mitchell’s paintings, you can feel that there is a commitment to making the work, a loyalty to the process, and a loyalty to honesty. For me, it's an encouragement to really be you.

When I'm with Mitchell’s work, I feel an invitation to me and a welcoming of me as I am. I have been in the US for almost 40 years, and I have changed, my own questions and my own need to look for answers, have changed. In Mitchell’s work, I see space for this new me, and I'm grateful for that, and I hope my work can give that to others.

At some level, we tend to add labels. Labels may be comforting, but it's a pity when they constrain us and put us in smaller places. There's energy in the way Mitchell uses everything: the gesture, the color, the composition, but it's an energy that never feels heavy. It feels electric. Her use of color is so expansive, and in her exploration, there's always a push for a little bit more, and a sense of mystery that I adore. In my own work, I'm aware that I have to walk a fine line because I use tulle and fabric and color—but at the same time, there is an edge, so people don't label me into this “pretty” kind of art, which might be the first impression. But I'm always thinking, how do I take people further? How do I guide them deeper into other questions and into other unresolved things in our society?

There is, for me, this underlying current of gratefulness, not only for the Joan Mitchell Fellowship and the Foundation, but also to Mitchell as an artist, and her unequivocally untimid being that is in the work. I'm grateful for that—as an artist, as a person, and as a woman.

Ana Maria Hernando is an artist originally from Argentina and now based in Colorado. She is a 2023 Joan Mitchell Fellow.