Mercedes Hart is a US-born, British-raised, self-taught paper and textile artist who has lived in Mexico for over two decades. Her work centers on papel picado renditions of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a figure who has accompanied her through every stage of life. Papel picado, meaning “perforated paper,” is a traditional Mexican folk art of hand-cut banners used to honor celebrations, rituals, and the cycles of life and death—a tradition Hart both preserves and reimagines through her work.

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Raised in 1980s London by a well-known musician father and an Irish-American poet mother, Hart grew up in a household where punk rock rebellion collided with Catholic tradition. On the walls, Guadalupe smiled serenely amidst gory Catholic idols and provocative punk imagery—a calm and constant presence in the chaos. When Hart arrived in Mexico at age 21, she found Guadalupe smiling at her still—this time as La Virgen de las Américas, the mother of a continent. It marked the beginning of a lifelong questioning and reimagining of what the image truly represents.

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Years later, while living in New York, Guadalupe emerged again as a stencil—an outlet in the midst of an abusive relationship and a guide that carried Hart into and through sobriety, and ultimately into motherhood. As her own transformation unfolded, so too did her rendering of the Virgin: from crude stencils sprayed onto sidewalks to the delicate, intricate papel picado she creates today.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​