In Retazos, Alexander Hernandez begins to explore the use of writing on his quilts. The words painted onto the fabrics in Alexander’s work are lyrics from songs that Hernandez heard his mother listen to as a child. Reminiscing, he said that the songs felt saccharine to his young ears. But, after listening to them again recently, and after having experienced so much of the world himself, the words about loss and heartbreak ring true and earnest, reminding him of everything his mother was feeling. Hernandez observes that the lyrics from these songs can feel like another kind of Spanish lesson, like meeting these words again in a new context. He realizes idiomatic things about the language that he didn’t know were possible. “This is an experience that a lot of first-gen kids have in common.”

We invite you to listen to the songs that inspired Alexander’s use of text in Retazos below. Retazos is on view at NUMU from June 3-Oct 9, 2022. Come visit!