Tanya Herrera

I am a 38 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. That's when 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 14 years on wood, 10 years on leather and another 8 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 guild gold, copper or aluminum to the vinyl and then apply the final step, a productive 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.