Nuestras Historias, an exhibit by artist Juana Estrada Hernández, will be on display now through March 22 in the Epping Gallery at McHenry County College (MCC). The Epping Gallery is located outside the MCC Store in Building B.
In the exhibit, Estrada Hernández channels her experience growing up as an immigrant in the United States into print media that addresses political and social issues pertaining to communities of Latinx migrants. The displayed works are a combination of memories, treasured cultural traditions, and a celebration of her family’s resilience.
“The decision to leave everything you know behind in pursuit of a glimmer of hope for a better life for yourself and your children is one of the most difficult and risky endeavors one can undertake,” the artist said in her statement. “At the crux of this migration is the steadfast belief in defining what, not where, a home is by following a strong sense of internal navigation.”
Her newest works celebrate this dedication of both pride in and preservation of one’s culture as well as a refusal of assimilation and erasure.
Estrada Hernández received her BFA in Printmaking from Fort Hays State University in Kansas in 2018 and her MFA from the University of New Mexico in 2021. She is currently teaching at the Rhode Island School of Design as Assistant Professor of Printmaking. She has exhibited her work across the United States and internationally at venues including 516 ARTS in New Mexico, Ardent Gallery in the United Kingdom, Ateliers Engramme Art Center in Canada, and more. Her accolades include being the recipient of a Fulcrum Fund Grant from 516 ARTS and residencies at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, Chicago Printmakers Collaborative in Illinois, Megalo Print Studios in Australia, and more.
For more information about the artist, visit juanaseemyprints.weebly.com and her Instagram page @juanaseemyprints.
Find information on art exhibits at MCC.
For more information or to be added to the mailing list for upcoming exhibitions, contact Trevor Power, gallery curator, at (815) 455-8785 or tpower@mchenry.edu.