Today we’d like to introduce you to Matthew Willie Garcia.
Hi Matthew Willie, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
For as long as I can remember, I wanted to create art, it was the way that I could effectively communicate with the world around me. My journey to becoming an artist felt like a natural progression of my life, there’s nothing that I am more passionate about. It was 2009 when I moved to Kansas City, from Tulare, California to pursue a BFA in Printmaking at the Kansas City Art Institute that really cemented in my career trajectory.
I graduated in 2012 with my degree and continued to work towards a career in the arts. My work was growing and changing as was my life. I decided to continue my education in the arts and in may of 2020 I graduated from the University of Kansas with an MFA in Visual Arts. During my years in graduate school, I allowed myself to let go, and my work to take on whatever form it needed. Though my love of printmaking is evident from the beginning of my art career it was in grad school that started to develop a wider range of making.
In this, I started to explore animation, projection mapping and site specific installation. I was also fortunate enough to be included in “Queer Abstraction” a group exhibition at the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art, “Star Children” at the Bradbury Art Museum and many other exhibitions.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I wouldn’t say it’s been a smooth road, not at all. It’s been a ton of work, very little sleep and a lot of rejection. That’s just part of being a creative, and pursuing your passion. I am really just wanting to enjoy myself, and do what I love. I think it’s been worth all the hard work.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My work takes a lot of different forms. I identify as a printmaker but I also do animation, instillation, drawing, painting, and projection mapping. Though my work expands past the typical printmaking medium I still think and develop each piece like a printmaker. I create tightly registered print and projection mapped animation, or create layers of content in an image or installation. As for the content of my work it focuses on a queer romantic exploration of the universe. I create work using fundamental ideas of cosmology, quantum mechanics and physics to talk about existence, humanity and queer fluidity. I am in pursuit of a personal queer sci-fi narrative where my personhood and others like me can exist. I work with abstraction to talk about the building blocks of our exitance, and to draw correlations from the macro and micro universe. I have always been drawn to Carl Segan’s quote “The nitrogen in our DNA, the calcium in our teeth, the iron in our blood, the carbon in our apple pies were made in the interiors of collapsing stars. We are made of starstuff.” This is the essence of where my work comes from, thinking about how we can not separate ourselves from the beginning of time.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I think every time someone puts artwork, be it a print, painting, a song, a performance, etc., out in the world they’re taking a huge risk. They are being vulnerable. I think risk is what makes art so great. It’s the creative taking a part of themselves and telling the world to look, enjoy, hate, love, criticize or ignore. It’s part of being a creative, the most exciting and scariest part of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: MatthewWilliegarcia.com
- Instagram: @matthewwilliegarcia
