Atelier · No. IV · Est. MMXIX
Raíces y Alas
Rooted in who I am · Free to transform
Transforming waste into visual poetry — sculpture and collage drawn from pressed leaves, salvaged paper, copper, and gold leaf.
The Atelier
On gathering, pressing, and gilding the discarded.
— V.H.
I am , a Mexican artist born in Veracruz. My work emerges from the meeting point of memory, nature, and transformation.
Five years ago, I moved to Canada. It was here that my creative process took on a new dimension. Being far from my roots led me to reinterpret my identity through art, finding beauty in what many would consider waste.
I mainly work with recycled materials and organic elements — textured surfaces, flowers, branches, and repurposed objects that come back to life on the canvas. Each piece is an intimate exploration of the feminine, the natural, and the emotional, where fragility and strength exist in balance.
“Raíces y Alas”
is the essence of my work — staying rooted in who I am while evolving, transforming, and expanding. Roots that hold me to Veracruz; wings that let me become something new.
My work is not meant to be only observed, but felt. It is an invitation to reconnect with what matters, to find meaning in the everyday, and to recognize that beauty can emerge even from what was once forgotten.
Origin
Studio
The Featured Work
A portrait of skin as landscape — where every tone, every mark, is not a flaw to be hidden but a season to be worn. Built in layered relief from reclaimed paper, gilded leaf, and pressed bloom, she wears her difference the way a garden wears its colours: openly, and without apology.
The butterfly at her eye is the work's quiet thesis — transformation as identity, fragility held in the same hand as strength. Beauty here is not uniform. It is the whole, varied, living truth of a face.
Series
Medium
Edition
The Folio
A gathering of recent pieces from the studio archive.
Each piece is a reflection of transformation, memory, and connection with nature.
Mixed media & relief on canvas
The signature work of the Beyond the Skin series. A reflection on identity, beauty, and individuality — skin rendered as living landscape, every tone and mark a season worn openly. It invites us to look beyond appearance and recognise the richness of the person within.
2026
11 × 14 in
Mixed media, reclaimed paper & gold leaf
An homage to Frida Kahlo's defiant tenderness — a portrait of pain transfigured into adornment, built from salvaged paper and gilded leaf.
2026
20 × 24 in
Available Work
Each piece is unique and made from recycled materials.
One-of-a-kind sculpture and collage made from recycled and gathered materials. Each piece is unique, signed, and ready to live in your space.
Bespoke works created for you — built around colors, materials, or a memory you wish to preserve. A simple, guided conversation from idea to finished piece.
Small-run prints and folios assembled from studio archives, limited to twenty-four hands.
Tell me which piece speaks to you, or share the idea behind your commission. I reply by hand within three days.
Beyond the Studio
Community gatherings, exhibitions, and shared making.
Viridiana Herrada J. occasionally participates in creative workshops, community exhibitions, and artistic experiences focused on mixed media, texture, and transformation through recycled materials.
A space where creativity, sustainability, and transformation come together through mixed media art.
Community Art Exhibition • Ontario, Canada
Exhibition at the Refugee Centre in Canada
The Process
How forgotten materials become meaningful art.
My work begins where most stories end. I gather what has been left behind and give it a second life through texture, organic elements, and slow, patient hands. Every piece is an act of transformation.
I collect what others overlook — fallen leaves, branches, salvaged paper, scraps of fabric, glass softened by the sea.
Each material tells me what it wants to become. I press, dry, and let texture, color, and form lead the composition.
Through layering, gilding, and slow assembly, the discarded becomes story — a piece that carries memory, nature, and feeling.
Voices
Letters from those who have lived with the work.
“Viridiana's pieces hold an extraordinary stillness. They feel like objects rescued from another century, and yet they are entirely of this one.”
Curator, Museo de Arte Vivo
“We commissioned a piece for the lobby. Guests stop. They lean in. They whisper. That is the rarest thing in a public space.”
Hotel Casa Mireles, Oaxaca
“It is rare to encounter an artist whose process is as quietly devotional as the work itself. A true craftswoman.”
Collector, Toronto
Let’s Connect
For acquisitions, commissions, experiences and collaborations — I’d love to hear from you.