Alondra Ruiz Hernández
Alondra Ruiz-Hernandez is a Mexican Canadian cross-disciplinary artist, and has participated in forty-one exhibitions, including three solo exhibitions. She has exhibited at the Archäologisches Museum Innsbruck, The British Library, The Bloomsbury Festival, MAFA International Festival, ‘LATE AT TATE’ Tate Britain, Toronto Biennial of Art, and Kitchener’s THEMUSEUM. Alondra won twenty-one awards, including FOLAS/SIS Academic Writing Award in Social Science, a Figureworks honourable mention, nine-teen Scholastic’s Arts and Writing (four Gold Keys and six Silver Keys). She was a speaker at eight talks discussing various topics such as artistic practice to climate change, politics, as well as de-stigmatizing menstruation and addressing period poverty underneath an artistic perspective. Alondra acted as an art juror for four events. Her work has been presented in eight international publications for audiences in Austria, United Kingdom, Canada, and Mexico. She completed her MA in Fine Arts at UAL's Chelsea College of Arts, 2020-2021. Alondra completed a BFA majoring in Drawing and Painting and a minoring in Social Sciences (graduated from both with distinction) at OCAD University, 2015-2020. Her interest in diverse cultures and her passion for informed research helped her win coveted places to study in OCAD U’s self-directed Florence program, 2017-2018, and in Jiangnan University, 2017. In high school Alondra attended art-specific schools, majoring in Contemporary Arts at Etobicoke School of the Arts from 2013-2015 and Visual Arts at Cawthra Park Secondary School from 2011 to 2013.
Collective Trauma
Any path we choose in life will inevitably lead to some form of heartbreak. However, heartbreak is a symbol of genuine care. David Whyte explains “So many visions of the future are adultescent hopes of escape from the present, especially from the heartbreak of the present. Really you only have a future when you come into the heartbreak and ground of this life” (Whyte). Furthermore, the psychotherapist, writer, and soul activist Francis Weller argued, “if you care at all about the world your heart is breaking and it should be [....] it’s the broken heart that can fall back in love with the world” (Francis Weller).
​
The paintings attempt to visually manifest trauma through the notion of rupture. They illustrate different types of punctures through either illusory form (achieved using oil and digitally paint) or in analogue form via a physical burnt tear.
​
Each piece retains patterning and vibrant myriad colours amid the ruptures. This symbolizes the beauty of hope that lies beneath the trauma.
Duality
These paintings address the ambiguous area where my cultures (Mexico and Canada) collide. This investigates the dual identity that I—and that any generational immigrants could—experience.
​
The Duality paintings consist of a juxtaposition of different elements fusing or abruptly crashing and consequently forming tension; it is a reflection of the dichotomies I feel within myself.
​
During the creation of the Duality paintings I employed an auto-ethnographic methodology in which I revisit my sketchbook reactions of my experiences with Canadian and Mexican artwork and artisanry. The aesthetic and cultural vibrancy of my Mexican ancestors captivated me and vigorously poured into my oil painting.
​
The Duality paintings consist of a juxtaposition of different elements fusing or abruptly crashing and consequently forming tension; it is a reflection of the dichotomies I feel within myself.
Fire Burn
