Hera
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Hera’s Poetic Portraits of Childlike Scavengers Foster Therapeutic Interactions Between Artist and Self

“The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.4 x 39.4 inches. All images © Hera, courtesy of Corey Helford Gallery, shared with permission
German-Pakistani artist Jasmin Siddiqui, who works as Hera and was half of the street art duo known as Herakut, brings a new series of scavengers to Corey Helford Gallery this month in tHERApy room 2. The solo show extends a body of work Hera presented in 2021, similarly depicting a large-eyed young woman donning the heads of wildlife. Defined by the artist’s graffiti style with drips, splatters, and sweeping spray-painted marks, the portraits connect adolescent wonder, innocence, and naivety to the broader human condition. “Each note I write and share with the world is actually a message addressed to that inner child, the vulnerable part that needs that extra encouragement, that talk of hope, of magic, and a little bit of escapism,” she says.
Having first picked up a can of spray paint 23 years ago, Hera considers these works a reflection of her evolution as an artist and person, saying:
If you will, you could see each piece as a therapy session, where the therapist would be Hera wielding brush and spray paint, and the patient would be Jasmin, the woman underneath the animal metaphor hats and masks. Describing my artwork that way makes it seem as if I had never stopped working in a duo.
tHERApy room 2, which also contains the artist’s new superhero sculptures, is on view through May 27 in Los Angeles. You can find more on Instagram.

“A Brain That Rarely Forgets Needs a Heart That Readily Forgives,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.5 x 31.5 inches

“There’s Great Kinship Among the Outcasts,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 31.5 x 31.5 inches

Detail of “The Meek Shall Inherit the Earth,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.4 x 39.4 inches

“Reading Together Was Like Sharing an Imaginary Friend,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.5 x 31.5 inches

Left: “Never Be King Just for Yourself,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 47.2 x 31.5 inches. Right: “Thoughts Are Free,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 63 x 47.25 inches

“Year After Year Magic and Nature Conferred About the Uncertain Future of Humans and Always Ended Up Granting Them More Time,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.25 x 39.25 inches
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Art
Wild Scavengers and Mythological Wonder Converge in Hera’s Dreamy Mixed-Media Works

“Taking a Break From Dancing to Their Tunes,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 35.4 x 23.6 inches. All images © Hera, courtesy of Corey Helford Gallery, shared with permission
In a poetic new series of works on canvas, German-Pakistani artist Jasmin Siddiqui, aka Hera, nods to her background in street art with sweeping, spray-painted marks, chaotic drips and splatters, and snippets of text. The gestural pieces are rooted in narrative and feature wide-eyed characters who wear headdresses of long-nosed rats, wolves, and strange, hairless creatures. In each imaginative rendering, Hera positions the possibility and wonder of adolescence alongside wild animals often deemed nuisances to human society, with “I’m fine really” displayed next to a child whose finger is snapped in a mousetrap and the title of another work, “Love Her But Leave Her Wild,” accompanying a contorted figure.
“My affiliation is always with those who create beauty in the darkest of places. Because the gutter feels closer to my creative home than the artist studio. I come from graffiti culture,” says Hera, who’s also one-half of the street art duo Herakut (previously). “I used to be the vulture, the raccoon, the street rat, that rummaged through leftover paint buckets left on the curbs of home renovations, treasuring other people’s trash.”
The mixed-media pieces shown here are part of Hera’s solo show Here We Go Again, which runs November 6 through December 11 at Corey Helford Gallery. She currently has a limited-edition print of a fox-clad figure available through myFINBEC, and you can find more of her small- and large-scale works on Instagram.

“You Live and Learn,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 35.4 x 23.6 inches

“Smart Rats Have a Thousand Lives,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.4 x 19.7 inches

Left: “Seen It All and Still Have Hope,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 39.4 x 19.7 inches. Right: “An Ode to You,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 47.2 x 15.75 inches

“I Had This Guy,’ acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 27.6 x 27.6 inches

“Love Her but Leave Her Wild,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 35.4 x 23.6 inches

“Poetry Written in Fairy Language,” acrylic paint, spray paint, charcoal on canvas, 27.6 x 19.7 inches
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Editor's Picks: Animation
Highlights below. For the full collection click here.