Headline Niwot artist Ana Maria Hernando hosted by Denver Botanic Gardens

When she was five years old, Ana Maria Hernando knew she wanted to be an artist. "I just love drawing and painting and I love the sensation of being lost in creating," she said. Hernando was born in Argentina, studied at the National School of Fine Arts and eventually moved to Berkeley, Calif. to continue her studies. Now living in Niwot, she has been a Colorado resident for more than 20 years.

Since then, Hernando has been a professional artist, dabbling in painting, sculpture, poetry, installations and more.

"I work with a lot of materials," she said. "I come from a textile family...Right now, I'm working a lot with tulle. I love tulle because of its transparency...I'm using the tulle to talk about the feminine in this fierce and soft way."

Femininity is important to Hernando, who has worked with cloistered nuns and other women's groups for various projects. She said that women have historically been at the center of crafts, but art made by women is sometimes seen as shallow or not ambitious.

"In a patriarchal, colonial society, the way women are treated, the way minorities are treated, it's the same way nature is treated–something to be used," she said. That's one reason why nature is another big component in Hernando's work.

These two themes, femininity and nature, are central to Hernando's recent art show at the Denver Botanic Gardens. Called "Fervor," this show is inspired by passionately existing within the world. "The show is about the fervor of the earth, and the commitment of the earth to move always towards life," Hernando said in a video on the Gardens' website.

Hernando's passion for the project is clear, especially her passion for involving people both in the creation and viewing of it. Initially, she was working on an art piece called "ecoutons," which means "we listen," in French. This piece was partially inspired by research she was involved in, which studied bird sounds.

Hernando said that through the research, she learned that North American bird populations had declined by as many as three billion birds. As part of the project, she would bring small groups up a French mountain and together, they would listen to nature, especially birds, using embroidering as a way to visualize the sounds around them.

With COVID and lockdowns, these listening retreats were no longer an option. Instead, Hernando invited people to send her recordings, which she listened to for hours. "I got so many recordings, very simple ones...some people sent little movies," she said. "And then ..., I sat with each of them and I embroidered what I heard."

Hernando made more than 200 embroideries, tacking them onto her studio wall as they were completed. These smaller pieces have been incorporated into her larger art installation at the Gardens.

Inspired by her experiences working with various individuals and groups in the Andes, and through her research of Andean cosmology, she explored the ideas of mountain spirits. "Some [spirits] are feminine and these are guardians...there's a devotional quality to it. I wanted to give her [the mountain spirit] the gift of the sound of birds... even though the birds might not be there anymore, the mountain can keep them in her heart."

In addition to the embroideries and a large mountain, Hernando's exhibit includes an audio element. As a poet, she wrote and performed three poems, working with artists from Nice, France, and Hamburg, Germany. These, and a compilation of the bird recordings she collected, can be heard at the show as well.

The eclectic nature of the exhibit is what makes Hernando's art unique, but that's not how she sees it herself. "I make what I have to make," she said. "I just hope it speaks to people."

While much of Hernando's art focuses on nature and the feminine, for Hernando, art is ultimately about connection and understanding. "Art is expansive and reminds us that we are so much more than paying bills and reprimanding the kids and doing laundry," she said with a laugh. "We are so much more than that. Art is fundamental to humankind."

Art allows Hernando, and others, she believes, to both embrace and express themselves in unique and profound ways. "I can make a lot of work and if it stays in my studio, it's good. But the work really gets completed when it's in communication with the person who is there, present with it. That's what makes me the most excited."

Hernando's exhibit "Fervor" will be at the Denver Botanic Gardens until Jan. 2, 2022. She will have another show at the Robischon Gallery in Denver next June, as well as another show at the Sun Valley Art Museum in Idaho at the same time. She's also working on a show for Boulder's Dairy Arts Center next fall.

You can keep up to date with Hernando's art by going to her website. https://www.anamariahernando.com/

You can also follow her on Instagram: @anamariehernandoart