Andrea Garcia
Andrea Garcia was born in Venezuela and raised in South Florida. She moved to New York to study art and graduated from Pratt Institute with a B.F.A. in painting in 2022. Currently working and living in Brooklyn, her new body of work explores themes related to childhood, such as childhood wounds and inner child healing. She takes inspiration from her personal experiences and documents them in images to create a visual diary. Through using a specific set of motifs, a curated color palette for each piece, and a vulnerable word or phrase, she is able to capture an emotional experience with a sense of awareness and acceptance.
Collect Bean: How do you think your work has evolved?
Andrea Garcia: My work has always centered around my emotions and personal experiences, much like a diary, but it has evolved in how I present those experiences. I used to paint them in a very literal manner, but over time, I began to rely on my imagination more to create images and color combinations. I have also begun to collect a set of motifs that are now becoming their own language in the work. This language has made the work more focused and gives it a clearer sense of direction. The work has also evolved as I have learned more about myself. In my last series of paintings, I created works around themes similar to those in childhood but presented them from a perspective of anger, which was evident in the color palette and imagery. My new works take a softer, more gentle approach that allows me to express these ideas with more peace and acceptance. Both myself and the work have gone through an emotional evolution, moving through the five stages of grief - grief for a version of myself from childhood that no longer exists.
Collect Bean: What role does color play in your practice?
Andrea Garcia: Color plays a very important role in my work; it is one of my favorite elements to play with in painting. Its role for me is to evoke an emotion or allude to a certain object or thing, such as using sandy colors to represent earth, purples and grays to represent shadows, or pinks and oranges to represent fire. Lately, I’ve been fascinated with letting color lead the painting to create those representations rather than painting them exactly. I often think about color combinations and how they will be received. Before starting a painting, I will decide on my colors based on the meaning of the painting and how I feel about the experience I am depicting. In my current works, I have been interested in using more pastel colors to convey vulnerability and soften the blow of jarring words or phrases painted within the letter heart beads. Color is often one of the most critical parts of my paintings.
Collect Bean: Are there any recurring themes or motifs in your art, and if so, what do they represent to you?
Andrea Garcia: I love to use recurring motifs in my paintings. In my current body of work, I am exploring themes in childhood and reflecting on how patterns in childhood affect patterns in adulthood. The letter heart beads are a motif that represents the merging of the two. Some paintings contain Glow Stars, which symbolize hope in childhood. Some of the earth elements in the paintings, such as rocks and shells, represent the toughness and difficulty of adulthood. The soft, starry, and shadowy backgrounds represent something otherworldly that transcends beyond these human experiences. I am constantly looking to objects and specimens as symbols, and I enjoy thinking about things metaphorically.
Collect Bean: How does where you grew up influence your work?
Andrea Garcia: Growing up in Florida has mainly influenced my work in the colors I use and the subject matter I paint. These influences show up in my work in very subtle ways. I am drawn to painting with pastel colors that appear similar to sunset colors and the colors in Florida's vast changing skies. I also love earthy, sandy colors and painting earthy themes and motifs such as flowers, rocks, shells, and insects. I grew up in a small town, and I grew up going to the beach a lot. I always find myself painting nature in some form or another.
Collect Bean: If you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would it be?
Andrea Garcia: The advice I would give to my younger self is that the relationship you have with yourself will always be the most important. Always listen to your instincts, and you will be guided both in life and in art.
