91. Teresita Fernandez

Teresita Fernández’s work is characterized by an interest in self-reflection and conceptual wayfinding. Her immersive, monumental works are inspired by a rethinking of landscape and place, as well as by diverse historical and cultural references. Often drawing inspiration from the natural world, Fernández’s practice unravels the intimacies between matter, places, and human beings. Her work questions power, visibility, and erasure in ways that prompt reflective engagement for individual viewers. Fernández is a 2005 MacArthur Foundation Fellow, the recipient of numerous awards, and was appointed by President Obama as the first Latina to serve on the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, a 100-year-old federal panel that advises the president and Congress on national matters of design and aesthetics. She and I discuss not being a specialist, emptiness, sustainability, what lives inside of us, landscapes, vulnerability, indigenous thought, silence, not needing to hide the story, trusting your instincts, mothering, and seeing yourself in something that is not you.