Julia Garcia

Region: Midwest

 In my most recent body of paintings, I work by alternating the canvas between horizontal and vertical orientations in order to control the flow of water, paint, and ink seeping into the work’s surface. For me, this method is linked to the depicted landscape: a porous bedrock, subject to the flow of both aquifers and surrounding water bodies. Using tape and a blade as drawing tools early in the process, partitions of canvas are corralled in order to guide an outcome, which nevertheless, often has unexpected results. Formative years spent in South Florida—notorious for its contradictory mythos of luxury and outrageous headlines—have shaped my interest in imagery which questions violence, erotic drive, and the seduction of spectacle.