Hernandez’s work sparks conversations about family stories, and he shares openly about the role of faith in his challenges. One piece (Cosechando Vida/Harvesting Life) is a print of a girl in a field of corn, which was an opportunity to “tell the story of where I come from” and “the lot that God put on the generations that came before me.” This image spoke to his ancestors’ work as laborers after immigrating to Texas. Hernandez views their work as the foundation that allowed him to become who he is today, an artist, educator, and family man.

Hernandez’s journey to creating personal art was influenced by his faith in God and his Mexican heritage. He recalls having a complicated relationship with his self-concept. A main focus of his art practice developed into healing from shame about his childhood, identity, and Mexican culture. In college, Mark was exposed to the diversity of Mexican culture in history and art, and the attention paid to the stories of everyday people. He felt inspired to paint from his own experience, “the emotional parts of what I have seen” he says. Diego Rivera’s portrayal of contemporary culture and ordinary people was a main influence. He also appreciated Jose Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros “revolutionary” perspectives and paintings that included farm laborers. Hernandez connected to the work immediately and recalls having the realization that “I can do that, too. I have stories like that.”

As an art teacher, he has facilitated an examination of scripture where students are invited to share visual clues that they interpret from the Bible and create from their own perspectives. This is drawn from Hernandez’s unique expression of faith through the lens of his own culture and experiences. This is the key quality that sparks conversation about his work at exhibitions, and creates a space for him to share his family history and culture, and “how Christ redeemed these people.”