In the chaos of our everyday lives, we yearn for peace, yet it often eludes us. Philadelphia-based artist Hannah Gabriela, with her paintings’ hushed neutral tones and landscapes of infinite depth, graciously provides a path back to calm and simplicity. This beautiful collection reminds us that moments of beauty and peace are all around us; we just have to pause and notice what has always been there.

Hannah Gabriela Herrera (b. 1995, Philadelphia) is a self-taught artist of Mexican descent. Her art journey first began in Argentina in 2016 while studying abroad. Immersed in the warm and open culture of Argentina, from which she also has family, Hannah was encouraged to find her artistic voice for the first time. When she returned to Amherst College, Hannah continued her art practice with several courses, including an interdisciplinary studio course taught in part by professor and musician Jake Meginsky. Hannah recalls Meginsky prompting the class to embrace experimentation in their work and to create directly from their own sensorial experience. After graduating from Amherst College in 2017 with a BA in psychology, Hannah continued doing just that. Through painting, Hannah creates a language to share the beauty and connections she sees in seemingly disparate moments and sights. As such, her abstract and landscape paintings bring out ethereal possibility while echoing the pure physicality of shape and light. Hannah was featured in Penn Libraries’ Unearthing Literacy Initiative and has exhibited in various places throughout the Philadelphia area where she currently resides.