Image credit: Orus Mateo Castaño-Suárez
BIO
Hugo Bernilla is an interdisciplinary artist and educator born in Peru and based in Toronto. He was born in Lambayeque, in northern Peru, and raised in Lima after his parents migrated there from the north of the country. His artistic practice is informed by his family’s heritage, the lands of northern Peru, and the histories of the pre-Columbian civilizations that once inhabited those regions. Bernilla, who is from a Spanish-speaking Peruvian family, identifies as a Peruvian mestizo with Indigenous and Spanish ancestry.
Bernilla holds an MFA in Interdisciplinary Art, Media and Design from OCAD University, Toronto, Canada, an MA in Art and Media Practice from the University of Westminster, London, UK, a BFA in Painting from the National Autonomous University of Fine Arts of Peru, Lima, Peru, and a B.Ed. in Arts and Humanities Studies from San Ignacio de Loyola University, Lima, Peru.
His work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions in Peru and internationally, including in Taiwan, Germany, Italy, Israel, Poland, England, Austria, and Canada. His works explore themes of postcolonialism, cultural identity, cultural heritage, and ancestral knowledge. Using found objects, non-traditional materials, drawing, oil painting, assemblage, artifacts, and installation, Hugo Bernilla’ s research creation practices explore the interconnections between living things, seeds (nature), objects/artifacts (cultural), and human beings (social interactions). His research-creation practice is shaped by personal history, intergenerational narratives connected to his parents’ homeland, his education in Peru, and his experience as an immigrant.
ARTIST STATEMENT
My work explores themes of postcolonialism, cultural identity, cultural heritage, and ancestral knowledge. Through research-creation practice and the lens of art, immigration, language, and memory, I reflect on the interconnected relationships between living things, nature (staple food-seeds), artifacts and objects (culture), and human beings (social interactions). My practice is informed by the stories and histories of my home country, my cultural roots, and my experience as an immigrant. Drawing from my Peruvian heritage, I incorporate staple foods, cooking ingredients, and found materials to create artifacts and objects that embody impermanence, transformation, resilience, agency, sovereignty, and legacy.
My work includes audio, sound, multimedia elements, artifacts, drawings, paintings, and sculptures made from non-traditional materials. I use materials such as copper, seeds, organic matter derived from Peruvian staple foods, and organic materials sourced in Toronto. The materiality of these works functions metaphorically: by combining elements from Peru and Toronto, I suggest a reciprocal relationship between the Global South and the North. The rough textures, smells, sounds, and tactile qualities of the works invite viewers to engage physically and develop an immersive connection with the work.
Honouring staple foods from my home country, I investigate how the cultural legacy of Pre-Columbian cultures continues through food ingredients and Indigenous terms that remain embedded in the Spanish language today. Through the interdisciplinary intersection of art, food, and ancestral knowledge, I create works that shape and contribute to the cultural legacy and human connection while valuing staple foods as cultural heritage.