“The islands bleed through into my work,” says painter Jaime Hernandez, who is this year’s featured artist for LeMoyne Arts’ Art & Soul Online Auction and Celebration.

Her piece, “Our Common Thread” depicts a woman divided in half, masked and unmasked, as fiery magenta, icy cobalt and tropical green drips of color cascade around her.  

“If I can’t use a hot color in a piece, I can’t do it,” adds Hernandez. “It’s always there.” 

This year’s Art & Soul Celebration will look different than in years past, culminating in an online auction on Oct. 15. Their “LeMasque!” theme is encapsulated in Hernandez’s work.

For Hernandez, the polarizing summer of heated politics, a worldwide pandemic and protests against police brutality all came to the surface in her paintings. All proceeds from the auction will go towards LeMoyne’s educational and community outreach programs.

Hernandez was grateful she visited her family in the Virgin Islands back in January, just months before international travel would halt globally. Her trip wasn’t all celebratory however, as she went to lay her late mother’s ashes to rest. 

Hernandez credits her mother with giving her a creativity and passion for making. Her death kickstarted Hernandez’s drive to become a serious artist and put work out there to be sold and exhibited. 

“For me it was a wakeup call,” says Hernandez. “I wanted to keep that creativity alive. She was so young when she passed, so I told myself I had to stop sitting around and push myself to do this.” 

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