I was walking past the Flatiron building a few weeks ago when something bright caught my eye. No surprise, Ana Maria Hernando’s vibrant tulle creations are a real head turner!

Who is Ana Maria Hernando?

The multidisciplinary artist Ana Maria Hernando is from Buenos Aires, and now resides in Denver, CO. She attended the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston and the California College of Arts and Crafts. Ms. Hernando has an impressive list of exhibitions to her credit.

Ana Maria’s parents had a textile plant, and its easy to see the influence it had on her craft. The art is inspired by the weavings of Peruvian women and the embroidery of Buenos Aires nuns.

Building the Clouds

I was lucky to be in the park on a day when Ms. Hernando was installing her art.

I do believe that the woman with the black coat and red scarf is Ms. Hernando.

The meaning behind the art

The Madison Square Park website quotes the artist “I grew up surrounded by textiles: my grandmothers and my mother would get together in the afternoons to sew and crochet, and as a teenager I spent summers sewing in my maternal grandparents’ small textile factory that had begun in the 1920s. Because of the influence of the women in my family, and my recognition from working at the factory that we can make something better together than alone, I am attracted to and admire circles of women who have gathered over the centuries to collaborate and accompany one another.”

Her goal with these works are to to infuse vibrancy and optimism into the winter cityscape with tulle sculptures of vibrant colors, representing hope, growth, and femininity.

The Madison Square Park website describes these as a series of beauteous, atmospheric clouds. I wanted to get a photo of them with the Flatiron Building in the background.

The Clouds

Ms. Hernando has a great video on her Instagram of making the clouds from the tulle. Check it out here.

The sculptures are especially cheery on these grey winter days. Read what the artist says about her exhibition from her newsletter announcement:

“I find there is something unique about the park: so many make it their place of solace, a social space throughout the seasons, their touch with the undomesticated. I feel a ray of grace for the possibility to be in conversation with them, to be close through color, the movement of tulle in the wind, and the surprise of an unexpected newness. We are thirsty for a wild kindness, desperately in need of simple beauties, to be nurtured with goodness, to awaken from darkness. As I consider this installation, I hope it can inspire us to stay nourished by life’s force, to not abandon dreams, to remain graceful in the heart and innocent enough to fall in love.”

How to get there

“To Let the Sky Know” is on display at Madison Square Park until May 17th, 2024. The park is on Madison Ave at East 24th Street. From the south it’s where Broadway crosses 5th Ave. You can take the 6 train to 23rd Street and it’s just one block west to the park.

Sources

Madison Square Park
Ana Maria Hernando Art
Ana Maria Hernando website

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