About
Biography
Alexandria "Inez" Garcia grew up in Salt Lake City, UT. Sparked by her desire to pursue art, she moved across the country. She attended Alfred University, ranked second in the nation for glass art and located in upstate New York. She continued her path by fusing her art and Chicana identity. She earned a minor in Spanish Literature, specializing in Latin American cultures. Her senior thesis combined the two with a visual representation of western perceptions of Latin culture.
She continued her exploration to the Basque Country in Northern, Spain. There, she studied a semester in the Universidad de País Vasco in Bilbao and witnessed the Spanish "Crisis" as Spain underwent an economic collapse in 2012. This altered her perspective on art making and cultural identity that still plays out in her work today.
Now, she primarily works in glass, exploring multiple modalities of the medium through casting, painting. and screen printing.
She partners with local non-profits and educational institutions to instruct sculpture classes, provide consultation, speak publicly, and create representation for women of color in the arts. These local organizations include Ogden Contemporary Arts, Curly Me!, The Leonardo, The Springville Museum of Art, and Salt Lake Arts Academy.
Statement
As a bilingual, biracial Egyptian Chicana artist, my artwork centers on relating my personal experiences as a woman of color to a larger community. I create in various ways including interactive events, partnering with local artists and organizations, and through exhibitions of my work in galleries all which facilitate deeper engagement with audiences. I am often an audience member's first contact with a BIPOC artist making race themed work. My work continues to center around community partnerships such as Curly Me!, Hijos del Maíz, and Pia Okwai that deepen empathy and cross-cultural connection.
My deeply personal work incorporates elements from daily experiences and my family’s history around themes such as “hair touching,” and Latinx diaspora. An extensive background in glass techniques including blowing, torchwork, plasma, painting, and body casting informs the modalities I explore. For example, in my series, Don’t Touch My Hair, I created glass busts molded directly from my body. As a child, I experienced unwanted hair touching by strangers, a microaggression rooted in enslavement. I utilized my body as a medium to carry the visceral experience of touch and othering.
Most recently, I have incorporated interdisciplinary work that deepens community engagement with art making that includes fashion shows, performance, and cultural gatherings. I create performance art and mobile formatted exhibitions as a part of the adaptation to enhance cultural accessibility. As a native of the “west side” of Salt Lake City, a historically underfunded and divested portion of the municipality, I create site specific works that form a special connection with this local Latinx population. I select Latinx gathering spaces, whose communities have had little access to the arts.