About

Ximena Heraud (b. Lima, 1984) is a Peruvian visual artist working in painting and ceramics — a practice rooted in Peruvian geography, pre-Columbian symbolism and a deep connection with the natural world.

She trained in painting at the National Art School in Sydney and took courses at Australia’s National Institute of Dramatic Art, alongside a degree in communication sciences from the Universidad San Ignacio de Loyola in Lima. In Lima she founded Arte Emú, an art studio and gallery in the La Molina district, where her earliest solo exhibitions were held.

Heraud is best known for Recorriendo Perú (Travelling in Peru): landscapes painted from journeys across the country’s coast, highlands and Amazon, some from remote places reached on foot, by climbing or by swimming. Since 2018 the series has travelled to Prague, Frankfurt, Bucharest, Athens, London, New York and Edinburgh, frequently with the support of Peruvian embassies and cultural institutes.

Born into the family of the poet Javier Heraud, she often exhibits her paintings alongside poetry — her own and Javier’s. In her ceramics she paints with ash from the Agnihotra fire ceremony, a material she regards as sacred. She lives and works in Lima.