Nadia Hernández’s work brings together political narratives and family stories. Drawing from elements of recorded conversations with her grandparents, the artist’s recent body of work, acquired for the NGV Collection as part of the 2022 NGV and MECCA Holiday Collaboration, draws upon her lived experiences as a diasporic Latinx woman within the disruptive political climate of her home country.

Hernández speaks with Amita Kirpalani, NGV Curator of Contemporary Art, about the process of making this bright and emotive work, now on display at NGV Australia.

The NGV warmly thanks MECCA for supporting the acquisition of these works.

Speakers

Amita Kirpalani is a curator and writer, and currently Curator of Contemporary Art at the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV). She was previously Curator of Contemporary Art at ArtScience Singapore and writes regularly about contemporary art. Since 2003 she has produced and managed contemporary art projects from live in-conversation events to large-scale solo commissions.

Nadia Hernández was born in Venezuela and lives and works in Sydney. Hernández was a finalist in the inaugural Ellen José Art Awards (2022) and has been a Create NSW Visual Arts Emerging Fellow (2020). She was commissioned to develop an immersive educational program and exhibition as Shepparton Art Museum’s EduLAB artist (2020) and was a recipient of the Bundanon Trust Artist in Residence (2019). In 2019, Hernández was the winner of the 2019 Churchie National Emerging Art Prize, one of Australia’s leading prizes for emerging artists. Her work has featured in a number of group and solo exhibitions, including the Macfarlane Commissions exhibition at the Australian Centre for Contemporary art in 2022.