Brianna L. Hernández’s ‘Aquí Descansamos’ at Duck Creek

The Arts Center at Duck Creek will present “Aquí Descansamos,” a site-specific installation by artist Brianna L. Hernández in the Little Gallery at Duck Creek. The exhibition will be on display from April 29 to June 4, with an opening reception on Saturday, April 29, from 3 to 5 p.m. The artist will give a talk about the exhibit at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 13.

This installation builds on Hernández’s ongoing work expressing the complex layers of end-of-life care, the dying process, grief, and mourning rituals. The series, “Aquí Descansamos,” began as a living cemetery composed of floral sculptures that mirror the shapes of common grave markers. In contrast to the somber, gray-stone visuals of conventional cemeteries, these alternate memorials highlight color, growth, decomposition, and renewal, offering a space to celebrate life’s vibrancy while acknowledging its temporary and ever-changing nature. At Duck Creek, Hernández expands on the series by incorporating burial vessels including caskets, urns and shrouds, all similarly crafted from organic, ephemeral materials such as moss, soap, sand, seaweed and beeswax. These vessels come together in the form of a funeral showroom, creating a familiar yet novel environment in which to consider end-of-life planning as an opportunity for empowerment.

No matter how we choose to honor the dead, we will all face loss one day and find ourselves seeking comfort in ritual and memorialization. In reminding us of our universal experience of grief, “Aquí Descansamos” honors the dead while providing space to imagine a future where we rest alongside them. How we choose to memorialize our loved ones, and wish to be memorialized ourselves, is entirely up to us.

Brianna L. Hernández is a Chicana artist, curator, educator and death doula guided by socially-engaged values. In developing as an artist, Brianna credits her late mother, Sylvia D. Hernández, as her most significant mentor. Brianna’s studio practice focuses on end-of-life care, grieving processes and mourning rituals based on lived experience, cultural research, and collaborations with peers. In addition to formal artworks, she offers workshops for viewers to self-educate on grief and end-of-life planning through the safety of the creative process. As a curator, Brianna works with artists to make socially-charged topics publicly accessible in order to create opportunities for education and empathy. She also collaborates with community health researchers to incorporate the arts into public health projects through curatorial consulting. Brianna serves as director of curation and board secretary at Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation, and as assistant curator at the Parrish Art Museum.

This exhibition was inspired by an ongoing collaboration between Brianna L. Hernández, OLA (Organización Latino Americana) of Eastern Long Island and the Arts Center at Duck Creek, called Creative Memorial Workshop. Guided by the artist, bilingual participants created commemorative objects to honor lost loved ones.

For more information, visit duckcreekarts.org. The Arts Center at Duck Creek is at 127 Squaw Road in East Hampton.