Storytelling

There's no academic barrier to storytelling. My goal is to add new perspectives to the collective consciousness that help us connect. 


I combine narrative performance with self-produced or remixed music. Sometimes I create ephemeral work, sometimes the intention is documentation. My practice is evolving to include ways for people with disabilities to interact with my work.

Photography

I've been working with analog and digital photography since early high school. I have a few photo collections, but mostly I like to document unstaged cityscapes and vast desolate landscapes. I gravitate toward absurdity in the mundane and chaotic still life.

Strayed Borders

2020

Shot at the beginning of the global COVID-19 pandemic, Strayed Borders captures landscapes and cityscapes in countries with territorial disputes. Stray cats are prevalent in all of the locations. They strut across private property, militarized checkpoints, United Nations Buffer Zones, and holy sites with ambivalence.

دولة فلسطين‎ 

Palestine

Κυπριακή Δημοκρατία
Kıbrıs Cumhuriyeti

Republic of Cyprus

יִשְׂרָאֵל‎, 

Israel
Two children stand in an alley in front of a blue wall in the Palestinian city of Nablus.
Cart full of red berries in a street market in Nablus, Palestine.
A vacant lot with construction or demolished rubble in in Nablus, Palestine.
Pile of construction trash in an alleyway painted faded blue in Safed/Tzfat, Isreal.
A gray cat sleeps in nest made of trash and branches in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus.
Person in a hoodie walks down a desolate street at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus.
Row of green barrels that function as a makeshift border between Greek and Turkish Cyprus.
Cat sleeping in in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus
Ginger cat stares directly into the camera on top of a roof in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus.
Fluffy calico cat sits in front of a tourist shop in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus.
A calico cat sleeps in an abandoned checkpoint booth in Nicosia/Lefkosia, Cyprus. Text atop the checkpoint reads "No borders" above an anarchy symbol in black spray paint.

Travel log

2010-present

日本 

Japan
Aokigahara forest in Japan
Tokyo, Japan
Tokyo, Japan

Deutschland 

Germany
Three men urinate on the street at the Berlin Pride Celebration, also known as Christopher Street Day.
Man does headstand backwards on a bicycle in Berlin, Germany

España

Spain
Queer couple sit atop a stone overlooking Barcelona, Spain.
Family of three sit on a bench with an anarchy symbol and "mort a l'estat" spraypainted on the back in Barcelona, Spain.
Floss silk tree in Barcelona, Spain

México

Mexico
Yellow rosebush interwoven through a gate
People walking in front of a panaderia at night in Ciudad de México.
Woman cooks tlacoyos outdoors on a large comal in Ciudad de México.
Baby sits in a shallow, aluminum-lined basket near an outdoor market in Ciudad de México.
Child walks a smiling dog down a long dirt road in Tulum, México.
Palm trees and water in the Cenote Angelita in Tulum, Mexico

Performance

I've been documenting my life for as long as I've been able to write. In 2015 I started turning writing into performance—sharing stories and poems in front of audiences. I perform narrative storytelling, drag, poetry, music, and mix them all up together. 


View a list of past and upcoming performances on the Featured page.

Promotional poster for the Sister Spit 2019 tour illustrated by Cristy Road. Graphic includes headshots of 7 performance artists, including Austin.
Poster design by Cristy Road
An animated gif of Austin wearing a Frida Kahlo costume for a performance..
Austin, a Brown transmasculine person with dark brown hair and brown eyes is holding a microphone and performing on an outdoor stage. He is wearing a long sleeve black shirt.
Austin, a Brown transmasculine person with dark brown hair and brown eyes takes a backlit selfie at a performance. He has a painted on unibrow and is wearing a flower crown with a beaded necklace. He is shirtless and has a large tattoo of a heart on his chest.

Music

Album cover of "Songs de mi Abuelito" featuring a picture of my grandpa at home playing his guitarrón.

Songs de mi Abuelito, EP

My grandpa was a mariachi and spent a majority of his life playing tocadas at popular tourist destinations. He never recorded any music, but I took several recordings of him singing and playing the vihuela and guitarrón. During the early pandemic lockdown I remixed some of my recordings to create a short album. He passed away from COVID-19 complications a few months after I completed the EP. 

Available streaming on SoundCloud

Film (coming soon)

Animated gif from an upcoming film
Screenshot from an upcoming film

Artist bio

Austin Hernandez (he/they) is a Brooklyn-based artist from San Antonio, Texas. Using film, storytelling, design, and music, his work mixes levity with existentialism to share the experiences of in-between communities and identities—the medium adapts to the audience and subject. Austin’s work uses a Riot Grrrl DIY ethic to create space for trans, queer, and Tejano/é stories.



Creative CV available upon request.