Ester Hernandez - prints and biography

Biography

Ester Hernández is a San Francisco–based artist whose pastels, paintings, and prints center on the experiences of Chicana and Latina women. Born and raised on the western slopes of the Sierra Nevada in California’s San Joaquin Valley, she grew up surrounded by the cultural traditions of her Mexican-American family. Her grandfather’s craftsmanship in religious sculpture and her father’s dedication to photography and visual art instilled in her an early appreciation for creative expression.

Hernández pursued her formal education at the University of California, Berkeley, where the politically charged atmosphere of the early 1970s helped shape her artistic and social identity. At Berkeley she became deeply involved in the Chicano civil rights movement, developing a practice that would merge political activism with visual art. She soon gained recognition as a founding member of Las Mujeres Muralistas, the influential Latina women’s mural collective in San Francisco’s Mission District. With the group, she contributed to groundbreaking public works that challenged stereotypes and gave visibility to Chicana voices in art.

Her independent career has been equally significant. Working across mediums, Hernández has consistently addressed issues of social justice, ecology, gender, and spirituality. Her prints in particular are celebrated for their bold imagery and strong symbolic narratives, often reinterpreting cultural icons to expose inequities or celebrate resilience.

Over the decades, Hernández has exhibited widely in solo and group shows across the United States and abroad. Her work is held in numerous prestigious collections, including the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the Library of Congress, the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Museo Casa Estudio Diego Rivera y Frida Kahlo in Mexico City. In recent years, Stanford University acquired her artistic archives, underscoring her lasting contribution to American art history.

Through her pioneering vision and unwavering activism, Ester Hernández has established herself as a vital figure in the Chicana/o art movement, continuing to inspire new generations of artists.