Tanya Herrera
I am a 42 yr old first generation Costa Rican American, born and raised in the Bay Area. I have made art for as long as I can remember. It was the only thing I wanted to do as a kid. I experimented with traditional mediums through elementary school, middle school, high school and into college, challenging myself to ask, “what else is there?” I continued testing a wide variety of modern art techniques until the age of 25. I discovered pyrography by trying to make the impression of a stencil on a piece of wood in a different way. Since then I have been burning pyrography in the traditional method going on 13 years on wood, 9 years on leather and another 7 years on bone.
My beginnings with heat art crystallized in 2016 when after years of failures I successfully developed a medium I call “Fire Stenciling” and “Fire drawing”. The idea also originated from the want to make the impression of a stencil on a piece of wood in a different way. It mimics the feeling of a painted or stenciled piece but instead brightly colored paint it is burned and monochromatic.
The most recent heat art medium is a series of heat molded vinyl records accompanied by 3 different kinds of metal leaf. After molding the record, I gild gold, copper or aluminum to the vinyl and then apply the final step, a protective clear coat of resin.
I have chosen to keep alive antiqued techniques by recreating them for a modern age, all the while intentionally reducing my carbon footprint through repurposing materials. I’m still constantly building on skills and talent handed down through genetics creating every piece I make to reflect the rarity that is me.