Naylea Hernández of Providence paints in vibrant colors like her favorite contemporary artist, Rocio Cabrera. The cover artist for Motif’s Hispanic Heritage issue, Hernández makes a point of using slime green in a number of her paintings. It’s her favorite color, she says, reminiscent of Nickelodeon’s iconic and signature substance.
In her composition for the cover, two men are relaxing after attending a festival in the Dominican Republic. One is wearing an extravagant devil mask, called a diablo cojuelo, and the other is sipping a beer, amid warm and lush tropical colors.
“I used a lot of symbols of Dominican culture in it,” she says. Presidente beer, a hookah, and a palm frond figure in her cover.
Hernández says the common threads in her artwork, which she terms visual storytelling, are passion, along with love and life. “Also, the end of things, the temporality of our lives and world,” she says, adding that she draws inspiration from the Dominican Republic’s Latino community, and PVD’s artistic community.
Born and raised in the Ocean State’s capital city, Hernández did street art and was a proud member of the local tagging culture. While attending Classical High School, a public magnet school on Westminster Street, she became interested in painting on different surfaces, and started taking art classes. From there, it was just a walk across the street to participate in the mentorship program and afterschool open studio at New Urban Arts.
And it was then that Project Open Door (POD) of the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) had a profound effect on the high school artist’s life. Hernández had known POD Director Lauren Allen since she was a sophomore. “She gave me a ton of confidence,” Hernández says.
“Caitlin Gomes and Dr. Paul Sproll helped me get into RISD on a full scholarship,” she relates of POD’s assistant director, and the founder and retired director of POD. Hernández graduated from RISD in 2024 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Painting.
In September, Hernández exhibited her painting Media Naranja at the Now and Next art show of the Dryden Gallery in North Providence. “My painting is of a girl leaning against an orange tree, and eating an orange. It’s a self-portrait, but it’s not super-realistic,” she says.
She finds the work of late 20th-century artist Martin Wong to be inspirational, particularly his cityscapes, she says.
Hernández teaches painting to high schoolers at the Blackstone Academy Charter School in Pawtucket. She’s a gallery assistant at Providence Art Club on Thomas Street, where she processes art sales, helps install artwork for shows, and works the opening of those shows.
One of her interests is playing the video game Minecraft. “It’s so much fun. You can just let your mind relax while playing it,” she says. The artist reads a lot. Toni Morrison is one of her favorite authors, and her novel The Bluest Eye has a prized place on Hernández’s bookshelf. “It’s a hard read,” she says, “but it’s so worth it.”
Hernández is a first-generation US citizen and first-generation college graduate. She’s proud of her accomplishments, and grateful for her friends’ support, and the help and inspiration that all of her mentors have given her.
The artist always has her sketchbook on her. “I’ll do some drawings while I’m thinking about what I want to paint next. I love to get really motivated when I start a new project,” she says.
Likewise, Hernández is never without her journal. She explains, “To help myself get motivated amid a sometimes very busy schedule where I don’t always have time to sketch, I will write what I’m feeling and address it in a visual way later.”
Hernández’s artwork can be viewed on her website nayleahernandez.com and on Instagram @nayleahernandez