For Immediate Release
February 16, 2024

Suffolk County Community College’s Sagtikos Art Gallery on the Michael J. Grant Campus in Brentwood Hosts the Work of Artist Brianna L. Hernández

Photo Caption: Consequences, digital performance, 2023 by Brianna L. Hernández

Suffolk County Community College’s Sagtikos Art Gallery will host artist Brianna L. Hernández through March 15, 2024. A reception and artist talk will be held on Tuesday, February 26, 2024 from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Gallery hours are: Monday -Thursday 12 noon – 4 p.m.

Intertwined: Facets of Grief and Mourning visualizes the anticipatory grief of caregiving and reimagined end-of-life planning through performative videos and biodegradable sculptures. Drawn from Hernández’s series Anticipatory | Después, each featured video shares the physical and emotional state of the dying, the caregiver, and at times the two concurrently. Ranging from fast and aggressive dance-like movement to slow and meditative contemplation, the enacted scenes capture a range of emotions and thought processes of understanding and untangling the intertwined traumas of caregiving and acute grief. Integrated within and surrounding the videos are sculptural works from Aquí Descansamos, burial vessels including caskets, urns, and shrouds crafted from organic, ephemeral materials such as moss, soap, sand, seaweed, and beeswax. Introducing the elements of whimsy and humor into funerary artifacts, Hernández invites visitors to consider end-of-life planning as an opportunity for empowerment.

Blending these series together, Hernández presents a nonlinear and nuanced relationship to the topic of death that holds space for pain, remembrance, joy of living, and love for those who have died.

Hernández states that while we will all eventually experience the pains of loss, preparing for the logistics of death and nurturing supportive communities for grievers can provide comfort and lessen the unnecessary stressors attached to loss.

Brianna L. Hernández is a Chicana artist, curator, and death doula guided bysocially-engaged practices. In the studio, Hernández creates multi-media installations focused on end-of-life care, grief, and mourning rituals based on lived experience, cultural research, and collaborations with peers including death education workshops. She proudly serves as Director of Curation and Board Secretary of Ma’s House & BIPOC Art Studio on the Shinnecock Indian Reservation in Southampton, New York and as Assistant Curator at the Parrish Art Museum in Watermill, NY. Additionally, Ms. Hernandez is the Board Treasurer at Walker’s Point Center for the Arts in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and Committee Member for the Gente Chicana/SOYmos Chicanos Arts Fund of the Greater Milwaukee Foundation.

About Suffolk County Community College

Suffolk County Community College is the largest community college in the State University of New York (SUNY) system, enrolling approximately 21,000 students at its three campuses in Selden, Brentwood and Riverhead. Suffolk offers the Associate in Arts (A.A.), Associate in Science (A.S.), and Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees, as well as a variety of certificate programs. Offering affordable college tuition, a highly respected Honors program, workforce training programs, extensive extracurricular activities, championship athletic teams, and numerous transfer programs, Suffolk is a first-choice college for Long Island students. Visit us online at sunysuffolk.edu.

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