Published April 30, 2025

MFA Candidate Hernandez recognized in UB Art of Research Competition

For his work "Mountain Composition", Misael Hernandez was awarded the "Cultural Insights and Interpretations" category prize at the 2025 "Art of Research". 

Finalists were present at the Tuesday, April 29, 2025 reception at the Buffalo Museum of Science, where they displayed their work. The winning entries were announced during the event, with winners receiving $500 prizes. Work is on display through May 2025 at the Museum.

Art of Research competition description and submission process info here.

Zoom image: Misael Hernandez, "Mountain Composition", 30 x 24 inch print, 120mm film adobe bricks stacked in a loose pyramid shape, in front of a white background, wtih color and black and white photographs set up against the bricks.

Misael Hernandez, "Mountain Composition", 30 x 24 inch print, 120mm film

Mountain Composition depicts a monument made from adobe bricks. The composition represents a mountain and an Aztec pyramid, referring to my Mexican heritage and Northwest American upbringing. Archived and personal photographs from the Library of Congress and personal archives are meticulously staged along the bricks to create contrasting pockets across the overall image that ignite historical and personal dialogue across an imaginative landscape. A medium format film camera capable of harnessing immense detail captures the scene while referencing photography's deep time as light fossils. Mountain Composition examines photography's ability to harness deep time, labor, and cross-cultural shared experiences by combining the real and constructed world otherwise impossible to express across traditional documentary photographs.  

a man in tan coat and white shirt (left) and woman in black shirt and jeans (right) stand near a poster which announces Misael Hernandez as a $500 category winner for the UB "Art of Research Competition", in teh atrium of a science museum with brightly lit white ceiling..

Misael Hernandez and Issis Echeverria-Hernandez with winning submission "Mountain Composition".

a man in tan coat and white shirt (left) and man in gray suit jacket and white shirt (right) stand near a poster which announces Misael Hernandez as a $500 category winner for the UB "Art of Research Competition", in the atrium of a science museum with mastodon skeleton in the background..

Misael Hernandez receives award from Graham Hammill, vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School.