Mi Villa, I am a death doula.

Nice to meet you! My name is Brianna Hernández, I am an artist whose work is focused on end-of-life care, grief, and mourning. I’ve been an artist my entire life but my journey in making work about death began after caring for my mother Sylvia in the final year of her life.

As her caregiver and now as her daughter grieving her absence, I knew it was important to find a healthy outlet for my emotions and a way to process what had happened.

In creating artworks about these experiences, I not only started to find healing for myself, but connection with others who have been through similar situations. 

Knowing that losing a loved one is a universal experience for all of us at some point in our lives, I also felt it was important for my work as an to include others and to offer resources for education. As part of this mission, I studied to become a death doula, which is a non-medical support role for end-of-life care.

Similar to a birth doula guiding through process of pregnancy from early on through postpartum, a death doula can help with the very early stages of planning such as organizing your end-of-life wishes in advanced, to the final weeks of someone’s life sitting bedside vigil.

I incorporate my education as a death doula into art-based group workshops which invite participants to consider their own wishes or to find creative ways to honor loved ones who have passed away.

First, I introduce one of my ongoing projects titled, Aquí Descansamos, in which I sculpt caskets, grave markers, urns, and burial shrouds out of organic materials such as moss, mushrooms, soap, beeswax, seaweed, and sugar among others. The intention of the series is to honor the ever-changing nature of grief and to be mindful of the ways we are remembered when we pass away.

After sharing this introduction and giving other examples of alternative memorials from around the world, I invite everyone to imagine and design their own versions based on their personal, cultural, and familial values.

Many of us want to show our loved ones how much we care when we plan out their funerals and memorials, but often we don’t feel like we can discuss these sensitive topics when we are still able to. I believe that through the arts, we can start to think about these ideas in a way that is less scary and more hopeful.

What would bring me comfort and peace in this time? How do I want to honor my loved ones and how do I want them to remember and honor me? When we ask these questions and create artworks that visualize the answers, there is a sense of empowerment and healing that comes through. 

This letter is an open invitation to all of you reading to create your own memorial artwork.

It can be for anyone: a loved one who has already passed away, a historic community leader you admire, or even your future self. Gather any art materials you have around you. You can use pencils, markers, collage magazine clippings, paint, take photographs, or anything else that speaks to you.

Consider the questions in the previous paragraph and what matters to you most. If you could choose the material, the colors, the symbols, the location, and the size of a memorial to reflect your values and wishes, what would it look like?

A great resource to make some of these decisions and to start talking with your loved ones about end-of-life wishes is The Conversation Project which has online started kits that you can download for free at theconversationproject.org as you work through this activity. 

I hope you create something you feel connected to and that it can bring you healing as it has brought me healing. 

With love, 

Brianna

Eco-friendly burial urns from the Aquí Descansamos living cemetery, showcased in the Heritage Collection.