Commissions
The images on this page are a selection of commissions I have done over the years. I have been and continue to be very selective when taking on commissions. With my art driven mostly by an intuitive process, agreeing to commissions requires that the subject and aesthetics of each piece align with the concepts I already work with as well as the individual or group requesting the work. I am grateful to the commissions I have received from institutions and organizations that have supported my work and given me the opportunity to connect to more communities. I am also especially grateful to the individuals who have supported my work (and that of other artists) via commissions. Other examples of commissions can be found in the Public Projects gallery. Any inquiries can be sent to yasminhernandezart@gmail.com for consideration.
DAT BLACK MERMAID MAN LADY
In 2016, award-winning Playwright Sharon Bridgforth commissioned me to create an oracle deck illustrating the fierce, magical characters of her play dat Black Mermaid Man Lady. The characters, which she calls mermaids, are inspired by her own ancestors of the bayou and beyond. It was an honor to be welcomed into the spiritual water world of Sharon and dem. To learn more about the play and the oracle cards visit Sharon’s site. To learn more about the play and the oracle cards visit Sharon’s site.
Private Commissions
“El Cucubano Supremo”, 2024. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic paint and gold ink on canvas. 24 x 20”. Commissioned by Clemente Robles and Yadira Alejandro. This portrait of Ramón Emeterio Betances was created in the aesthetics of my CucubaNación project, as a follow up to my portrait of Puerto Rican freedom fighter Rafael Cancel Miranda. Both channel the light of our beloved cucubanos, bioluminescent click beetles, to envision our freedom fighter ancestors. The gold hurricane symbols mimic the movement of the bioluminescent light spheres. Betances was a 19th century Puerto Rican and Dominican physician, revolutionary and abolitionist who authored the 1868 Grito de Lares Revolution.
“Water Protectors” 2018. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on canvas, 25 x 48”. Commissioned by Thelvia Bonano Scarlett, Jacksonville, FL. Water Protectors borrows from my nebula series inspired by my Boricua ancestors and bioluminescence in our waters, to envision buffalo within the Standing Rock landscape as bioluminescent spirit warriors protecting the water that flows across these lands. Red and blue are references to hydrogen, oxygen in our bodies, our water, the cosmos. The creation of this work was delayed after we were left with no light and water following Hurricane Irma. I let Thelvia know that I would need more time, never anticipating the passing of Hurricane Maria two weeks later which left us with no electricity for over four months.
“Dance of Gypsies,” 2013. Yasmin Hernandez. Oils, Acrylic and mirrors on canvas, 36" x 24". This commission came from Tanesha Rogers an incredible soul sent by Yemaya via cyber space. She came into my life when my brother passed from cancer & her mother had just been diagnosed. After her mom's transition she asked that I paint a tribute to her mother and shared the beautiful words featured in the work: Her smile was a royal queen and her laugh was the dance of gypsies; Teeth bright like shiny tambourines shaken by the ministers of laughing rhythms.
“Antonia Pantoja” 2008. Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on canvas, 30" x 24". Commissioned by Lillian Jimenez, creator of the documentary Antonia Pantoja : ¡Presente! Antonia Pantoja was the fierce educator, activist who revolutionized the experience of Puerto Rican and Latino students in New York and in the US when she fought for bilingual education and created the student organization Aspira.
“Pedro Albizu Campos” 2008. Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on canvas, 24" x 18". Commissioned by legendary DJ/ sports announcer/ filmmaker/ author/ friend Bobbito Garcia. He commissioned a portrait of Pedro Albizu Campos because his image reminds him of his father. This was done in the style of my Archivos Subversivos of that same year.
“Obatala” 2003. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on canvas, 36" x 18". Commissioned by Alex Ulanov. Portrait of the Yoruba orisha of peace, wisdom and creativity, Obatala.
“Atabex (Blue and Yellow)” 2003. Yasmin Hernandez. Oil on canvas, 24" x 18”. Commissioned by one of the earliest supporters of my work, Francis Acevedo.
Public Commissions
"Julia de Burgos Reflexiona," 2020. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on board, 20 x 16 inches. Commissioned for the Women's Empowerment Draft of Art Force Five, Alfred University, Alfred, NY. This portrait of Puerto Rican Poet Julia de Burgos was reproduced on trading cards and jerseys as tribute to a series of powerful women and in commemoration of the 19th amendment in the US, which finally granted women the right to vote. See link below for details.
“Somos Muchos” 2015 (Oscar López Rivera) Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on canvas, 30" x 24". Commissioned for the University of Puerto Rico-Mayagüez’ conference, Luchas de Ayer, Ahora y Siempre (?) on Puerto Rican political prisoners past and present. Oscar López Rivera is presented among a selection of ancestors who sacrificed their lives for the liberation of Puerto Rico. Within his portrait we see a selection of the comrades who, like him, have served as political prisoners for wanting the freedom of their country.
“Boriken Aye” 2012. Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on paper, 33" x 22". This work was commission as the poster image for the Puerto Rican Studies Association 20th anniversary conference, same year that I was the featured artist. The image borrows the seashell from the indigenous fotuto and the Yoruba Eshu Aye to celebrate the Puerto Rican Diaspora as part of the African and other Diasporas. Featuring quotes by Julia de Burgos, Martin Espada and Aurora Levin Morales.
“Un Fuerte Abrazo” 2008. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic, collage on watercolor paper. 15” x 11”. Commissioned by the Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues, New York, NY.
“Rhymes for Treason”, 2005. Yasmin Hernandez. Commissioned by the New York City-based Spoken Word/ Hip Hop group The Welfare Poets as the cover for their album Rhymes for Treason.
“Malcolm” 2005. Yasmin Hernandez. Portrait of Malcolm X commissioned by the New York City-based Spoken Word/ Hip Hop group The Welfare Poets as the back cover for their album Rhymes for Treason.
“One Love”, 2005. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic, collage on watercolor paper. Commissioned by the Funders for Gay and Lesbian Issues, New York, NY, for the cover of a report on a study of international philanthropy/ activism around LGBTQ issues.
“Play at Your Own Risk” 2005. Yasmin Hernandez. Mixed media on paper, approx 32" x 27". Commissioned for the book On My Block, by Children's Book Press. This publication compiles the art and words of 15 artists reminiscing on what it was to grow up on our block, and a glance back to our childhood. I pay tribute to our street in Park Slope, Brooklyn and to my brother. He collaborated with me on this piece in the graffiti. Play At Your Own Risk is a song from our youth by Planet Patrol.
“Yemaya y Ochun”, 2003. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on watercolor paper, 15" x 11". Collection of Liliana Polo. This image was commissioned by New York Spanish-language newspaper El Diario/ La Prensa for their 2003 Women's Month Distinguished Latinas celebration. I was selected as an honoree the following year. This image honors women through the solidarity of sister orishas of femininity, motherhood, fertility and love, Yemaya & Ochun, within a women's torso.
“Bomba y plena de la Playa al Batey,” 2002. Acrylic on watercolor paper, 15" x 11". Commissioned by El Diario la Prensa for a Puerto Rican heritage month celebration, this work takes the coastal African traditions of Puerto Rico and places them in the indigenous community center, the batey, connecting one aspect of our ancestry with another. Inspired by the Caguana Ceremonial Park in Utuado.
“Arturo Schomburg & the Diaspora,” 1998. Graphite on paper, 10" x 8". This image was commissioned for the Arturo Schomburg Symposium in Philadelphia. The theme of the conference that year was spirituality in the Diaspora. The image takes Afro Boricua Black Studies hero, Arthur Schomburg, and places him within the Diaspora at the crossroads of the evolution and syncretism between Santa Barbara and Shango to Chango, orisha of fire, masculinity, passion.
“Abriendo Caminos,” 2003. Yasmin Hernandez. Acrylic on watercolor paper, 11" x 15". Collection of Michigan State University, Office of Racial & Ethnic Affairs. Selected as the poster image for the Día de la Mujer Conference, 2003 at Michigan State University. This image honors the roots of collegiate Latinas from our work on the fields, paving paths towards careers in various cities while always marching towards the pyramids and the sun representing our heritage.