Born in Mexico City in 1982, Berenice Hernández resides and works in Leksand. After completing her ceramic training in Mexico City, she pursued ceramics at the Oslo National Academy of the Arts (KHiO), and earned an MFA from Konstfack University of Arts, Crafts and Design in Stockholm (2020–2022).
Hernández’s ceramic sculptures and installations resemble miniature temporary dwellings, with constructing and deconstructing playing a fundamental role in her creative process. She meticulously transforms hundreds of delicate clay layers into large blocks before cutting them into smaller pieces and combining them with glaze, incorporating non-ceramic materials like chamotte, glass, thread, and corn flour.
The artist describes these pieces as models of “imaginary architecture” and “ghost architecture,” portraying places and buildings that exist only in the imagination, such as an old postcard’s long-gone house or a blueprint for an unbuilt structure.
Hernández’s sculptures are notably fragile, with cracks, voids, and missing pieces being as important as what is whole and present, leaving the viewer uncertain about whether they are on the brink of collapse or in the middle of construction.
Her works serve as reminders of our relationship with unstable spaces, which are always vulnerable to imminent catastrophe. Sometimes these spaces are forced upon us, at times they serve as shelter or homes, and other times, they fall into ruin.
What remains unchanged is our connection with them and the manner in which they shape us.
