Top Rank Magazine

On episode 45, we welcomed scholar, community arts educator, curator, and artist Dr. Jillian Hernandez (@pastelitocookie), whose work challenges the ways racialized and working-class bodies, sexualities, and cultural practices are policed through gendered tropes of deviancy and respectability. We spoke to Jillian about her debut book “Aesthetics of Excess: The Art and Politics of Black and Latina Embodiment” (2020); the insurgent Miami-based art collective, Women on the Rise!, which she founded in 2004; her personal, lived journey into scrutinizing the cultural politics of style; and the radical possibilities of excess. Our intro (“Love is Love”) and outro (“My Ace”) are courtesy of KING VISION ULTRA, 2025.