Nadia Hernandez’s collage works display Venezuelan folklore and a charming tactility

Nadia Hernandez creates collage pieces that make you instantly want to grab a pair of scissors, an array of coloured paper and get cutting. Shapes, typography and figures are all delicately cut and stuck, with a charming tactility.

Nadia’s artwork is “largely centred around the exploration of Venezuelan folklore,” she tells It’s Nice That. “I use this as a way to reconnect my culture and heritage and further understand my identity. I think folklore is the binding core of a culture and it has the power to bring people together.” This influence is combined with the works of “Sister Corita Kent, Keith Haring, Atelier Popular and the illustrations of Diego Rivera”. An element each of these creatives have in common is that their artworks are “visually memorable and bold, but convey a social message and spirit of change”.

An ability to articulate a message through artwork is one Nadia embodies: “A call to action is what most inspires me, I think art has the power to bring people together and help them engage and understand how events happening all over the world, whether social, climatic, or political bind us as humans and are worth finding solutions for,” she explains. “I’m still exploring how best to do this, but at the end of the day it’s a life-time journey!”

An exhibition of Nadia’s work Things Before and After is currently on display at Mild Manners, Sydney until 21 April. “These works are a narration of Nadia’s personal stories,” says writer Katie Winten. “The composition, shapes and colours speak to, and with, Venezuelan folk art; the visual culture and heritage of her home plays an integral role in the formation of her work and with her understanding of identity.”