Misael Hernandez (b. 1998) is a photographer from Springfield, Oregon. His work utilizes documentary, sculpture, and archive approaches to decipher the culture, religion, and identity of his Mexican heritage and Northwestern American upbringing. These two cultures and the landscapes of the West have had tremendous impacts on his character and artistic practice. He now combines handmade adobe brick, sculpture, and historically sourced images to construct photographic works that refer to his sense of identity and its relation to a deep photographic time and cross-cultural shared experiences.

Hernandez received his MFA and was a graduate instructor in photography at the University at Buffalo (2023-2025). He attained his BA from the University of Oregon (2021) and assisted Portland photographer and educator Jason Langer (2021-2023). He has exhibited in Oregon and New York, including Blue Sky Gallery, the Center for Exploratory & Perceptual Arts (CEPA), University at Buffalo Art Galleries, and C.R.E.A.T.E Community Studios. Selected awards include the Career Opportunity Grant awarded by the Oregon Arts Commission, the Film Photo Award Student Project Award, the SUNY Thayer Fellowship, and the Generator Grant, administered by The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (BICA), funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation. Hernandez has participated in residencies at the Center for Photography at Woodstock (Fall 2025) and Anderson Ranch (Spring 2026).

SELECT Solo & Group Exhibitions

• Art of Research, Buffalo Museum of Science, Buffalo, New York

• Frontera de carácter, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, New York (solo), 2025

• Printmakers Showcase, C.R.E.A.T.E Community Studios, Troy, New York, 2024

• Symbiosis, CEPA Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 2024

• Placeholder, University at Buffalo Center for the Arts Gallery, Buffalo, New York, 2024

• Zone 4 All, New Zone Gallery, Eugene, Oregon, 2023

• Hay Más Tiempo Que Vida, Oregon Contemporary Theatre, Eugene, Oregon

• No Borders, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, Oregon, 2022

• Viewpoint: Landscape and Architecture, Black Box Gallery, Portland, Oregon, 2022

• Collectively Bound, LaVerne Krause Gallery, Eugene, Oregon, 2021

Selected Funds, Awards & RESIDENCIES

• Career Opportunity Grant, Oregon Arts Commission, 2026

• Anderson Ranch AIR, Snowmass Village, Colorado, 2026

• Center for Photography at Woodstock AIR, Kingston, New York, 2025 

• Student Prize: Top 25 to Watch (2025), LENSCRATCH, 2025

• Student Project Award, Film Photo Award, 2025

• Thayer Fellowship recipient,  The State University New York System (SUNY, 2025

• Generator Fund: Kinetic Grant, The Buffalo Institute for Contemporary Art (BICA), funded by the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, 2025