Elena Hernandez-Peña

My artistic approach is grounded in photographic techniques, exploring themes of cultural identity, assimilation, and resilience. I gather images from my own life, my family’s history, and found images to create reimagined histories and dream-like narratives that challenge traditional stories. My process often involves creating digital negatives, which I use in cyanotypes to produce prints that evoke fleeting, ghostly representations of memory. Recently, I’ve been incorporating new materials into my work, such as sewing and rawhide leather, skills passed down from my father, a leather craftsman. This shift in materiality has opened new doors for me, leading to the exploration of 3-D works. The integration of these materials adds a tactile, personal layer to my practice, further connecting me to the traditions of craftsmanship while allowing me to push my work into new forms. My work continues to reference Mexican cultural symbols, sacred imagery, and ancient civilizations, juxtaposed with contemporary issues around gender, environment, and identity. This process of material exploration and narrative reimagining is central to my practice, where the physicality of the work mirrors the complexity of cultural history and identity. The goal is to  invite viewers to reflect on their own stories, offering a space for both personal and collective reflection on the strength and fragility of cultural narratives and life itself.