Liliana Herrera was born on June 3, 1993 in Sonora, Mexico. She is a visual artist, face and body painter, art teacher, and model. Her more recent ventures include her face and body painting services at various Oakland events and gallery exhibitions along with a clothing brand that she launched, Brown Eyezz.
Herrera moved from Sonora to Oakland as a young child and has stayed in Oakland since then. She is motivated to embrace and empower Oakland’s art scene, a motivation that was further inspired by her academic career and access to art programs, such as Oakland High School’s Visual Arts & Academics Magnet Program (VAAMP). Her goals are to stay in Oakland and have her own gallery space and/or store front where she can both express herself freely and invite others in to do the same. Herrera also stays because she loves her work as she gets to teach art to others and display her own. Today she continues to brighten the community with her artistic contributions and talents and proudly displays her Oakland pride.
Herrera graduated from Oakland High School and then attended Laney College, a community college where she graduated with an AA degree in Language Arts. After that, she attended Cal State East Bay and graduated with a BA degree in Studio Art. She has also volunteered at a number of art-focused centers and events since 2009.
Herrera was first artistically inspired around the age of four when she found ways to express herself through dance, such as baile folklórico, though she also experimented with playing the flute and making crafts. After repeatedly visiting a neighbor who painted, Herrera truly became inspired by her life and wanted to be like her. Herrera lost touch with this neighbor after moving but found another inspiring connection soon after that in her after-school art teacher, Joanne Pfeiffer. Herrera says that Pfeiffer became like a grandmother to her and opened her eyes to the world of art, learning a lot at a young age due to her mentoring. While she was also inspired by other teachers later on, another motivation of hers comes from being a first-generation high school and college graduate.
Haunts:
- The Pancakes & Booze Art Show at the Oakland Metro Operahouse (522 2nd Street, Oakland, CA 94607) is an underground art show that’s meant to allow up-and-coming artists a more freeform platform to showcase their art and connect with other local artists. Herrera has been regularly attending and bringing her art to this event, celebrating Oakland’s grand art scene and her own talents.
- 7th West (1255 7th Street, Oakland, CA 94607) is an event venue and community hub that is also a restaurant and bar, providing all kinds of experiences from live music to local art. Herrera has been hosting an annual Día de los Muertos family event there, regularly displaying her art, and she has also painted murals in both bathrooms.
- Warehouse416 (416 26th Street, Oakland, CA 94612) is a gallery and event space that hosts local artists and vendors, participating in First Fridays and providing other outlets for creativity in the form of workshops, meetings, and celebrations. This is a space where Herrera has been displaying her art alongside other artists, contributing to what ends up being a beautiful collaboration between Oakland artists.
~ by Alina Gomez ~
External Links:
https://www.instagram.com/lilysarte/
https://lilysarte.weebly.com/cv.html
https://www.facebook.com/BrownEyezz/
https://www.instagram.com/tbproductions_/
https://www.tbproduction.co/knacksmagvol2
