Kim Garcia

EDUCATION

2018   University of California, Irvine — MFA in Studio Art
2015   University of California, San Diego — BA in Visual Arts
2013   San Diego Mesa College — Certificate of Performance in Museum Studies

Solo Exhibitions

2023   Smoking in the Garden at Phase Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019   i leave this standing stone to be a sign, Best Practice, San Diego
2018   is love a tender thing?, University Art Gallery, Irvine, CA
2017   Something We Don’t Know - Part 2, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
2015   We are where we are not., Disclosed unLocation, San Diego
2013   DEVICE, Mandeville Annex Gallery, San Diego

Group Exhibitions

2023   Expansion Joint, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
2023   The Body is the House We Live In, The Floating Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022   Beta Epochs, Los Angeles, CA
2022   Now! Bendix Building, Los Angeles, CA
2022   a line and a long gaze, Phase Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022   Mixed Media, Site: Brooklyn Gallery, New York, NY

2021   SMC Faculty Art Exhibit, Santa Monica College Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery
2021   Remote Residue, Doppler Projects, Athens, GA
2021   THE HIDEBEHIND, after hours, Los Angeles, CA
2021   Meet You at the Garden Gate, Peripheral Space, Los Angeles, CA

2020   Backyard, DXIX Projects in conjunction with Other Places Art Fair, Virtual Exhibition

2019   Adjacent, Adjacent, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
2019   sluice over the braids sweet forming, Eastside International Los Angeles
2019   Efímera, Blue Roof Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2019   MICROLOGIES, Scharaun, Berlin, Germany
2019   Blended, DAC Gallery, Los Angeles
2019   Looking Forward, Looking Back, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery

2018   Artist and Location, CICA Museum, Korea
2018   Screenings, Laemmle NoHo 7, Los Angeles, CA
2018   Arc, Wobble, Fade, Fold, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2018   Drawings, paintings, maybe a sculpture 2, Everybody Gallery, Tuscon, AZ
2018   Greater Los Angeles MFA, Cal State Long Beach, CA

2017   The Leaning Tower of Pisa, DXIX Projects, Venice, CA
2017   Mid-City Moment, Mokosh Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2017   SoCal MFA 2017, Millard Sheets Art Center, Pomona, CA
2017   Peintures et dessins par, À l’Abbaye de Bassac, France
2017   Baker's Dozen VI, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
2017   Boiling Process 5: Mythodologies, San Diego Art Institute, San Diego, CA
2017   This is a demo, Cerritos College, Norwalk, CA
2016   Slippery When Wet, GAIT LA, Los Angeles, CA
2016   New Contemporaries: San Diego Art Prize Nominees, City College Gallery, San Diego, CA
2015   Everything in-between us, HB Punto Experimental, San Diego
2015   DATE NIGHT, SDAI Project Space, San Diego, CA
2015   Gone Paintin', California Suites Hotel, San Diego, CA
2015   Friends Press, ARTiFACT Gallery, San Diego, CA
2014   Our Current State, ADK Gallery, San Diego
2014   twofold_, Disclosed unLocation, San Diego
2014   BOOHAI, Ship in the Woods, San Diego, CA
2014   Open Walls Project, Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, San Diego, CA
2014   TRANSANNUAL: Normal Actions for Normal Heights, San Diego, CA
2014   LURE, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA
2013   TNT @ WoW, Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, CA
2011   Art Labs, Hilton Bayfront, Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair, San Diego, CA
2011   8x8 Cubed, SPACE 4 ART, San Diego, CA
2011   Color Me Alchemy, Voz Alta Project Gallery, San Diego, CA

AWARDS/GRANTS

2019   Hopper Prize Finalist
2018   UCI Research and Travel Grant
2017   UCI Research and Travel Grant
2017   H.B. and Isabelle Yolen Memorial Scholarship
2016   UCI Research and Travel Grant
2016   H.B. and Isabelle Yolen Memorial Scholarship
2016   Millennial Exploring Engagement Grant, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
2015   UCI Diversity Recruitment Fellowship
2015   Italo Scanga Memorial Scholarship
2015   Hajim Family Alumni Schoarlship
2014   Russel Grant
2014   William F. Rogers, Jr. Scholarship
2011   Clairemont Art Guild Scholarship
2010   Synergy Art Foundation Scholarship
2007   Chula Vista Art Guild Scholarship

CURATORIAL PROJECTS

2022   a line and a long gaze, Phase Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2021- Present   after hours gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2016   Something We Don’t Know - Part 1, San Diego Mesa College, San Diego, CA
2015   Just Friends, SDAI Project Space, San Diego, CA
2015   Friends Press, Artifact Gallery, San Diego, CA
2014   BETTER OFF NOW, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery, San Diego, CA
2013   CHAOS: A State of Disorder, Visual Arts Gallery, San Diego, CA
2013   KULT, Mandeville Annex Gallery, San Diego, CA
2013   Hexell Pod, Take-Out Gallery, San Diego, CA
2011   Chewbacca Rainbow, Take-Out Gallery, San Diego, CA
2011   Expected/Unexpected, Take-Out Gallery, San Diego, CA

TALKS/PRESENTATIONS

2023   UC Santa Barbara Artist Talk Series, May 18
2017   Censorship is a symptom of oversight at Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, as part of the exhibition, Something We Don’t Know Part 3: Can You See Us? July 29 - August 17.
2016   Art Practices and Applying for Graduate School at University of San Diego. As part of a presentations series for advanced undergraduates.
2014   Deconstructing the Art Talk at University Art Gallery of the University of California, San Diego. A precursive presentation for the lecture series.
2013   Reset: Mandeville at the University Art Gallery of the University of California, San Diego. Discussion of the politics of academic space within a visual arts program. April 26-27.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

Visiting Artist Lecturer, UC Santa Barbara — Winter 2022 - Present
Part-Time Faculty, Santa Monica College — Fall 2021 - Present
Instructor of Record/Teaching Associate, University of California, Irvine — Fall 2017
Visiting Artist Lecturer, San Diego Mesa Community College — Fall 2016, Spring 2017

REVIEWS/PRESS

2019   Art and Cake LA, “Adjacent, Adjacent at Torrance Art Museum.” Genie Davis, December 21. Web.
2018   New University, “ The Distinctive Works of UCI’s MFA Students.” Eashan Kotha, May 15. Web.
2017   San Diego CityBeat, “Artist and students document hidden art in ‘Something We Don’t Know’.” Kinsee Morlan, August 17. Print
2017   Long Beach Post, in Arts & Culture, “IN PICTURES: Discover the Next Wave of Los Angeles Contemporary Artists at GLAMFA.” Asia Morris, January 25. Web.
2016   Contemporary Art Review LA 'Slippery When Wet at GAIT.’ Angella d’Avignon, October 27. Web.
2014   Culture Buzz "The supple ideas in ‘Lure’ at Mesa College Art Gallery.” Robert L. Pincus, February 14. Web and Print.
2013   The Daily Aztec "A fun, interactive night at the Thursday Night Thing." Ryo Miyauchi, October 8. Web.
2010   San Diego CityBeat, “Building a Room of One’s Own”, Kinsee Morlan. Print.

Artist Statement

Through the fusion of reality and fiction, my work emerges from personal encounters, aiming to complicate narratives surrounding second-generation Filipino American histories. I delve into the intricacies of post-colonial identity, exploring themes of intimacy and influence stemming from social interactions. The outcome is a vibrant collection of sculptures, drawings, and paintings that fictionalize a personal event to explore power dynamics and trauma within interpersonal relationships, community structures, and memory.

Utilizing materials like medical casting tape, my artworks simultaneously display trauma and symbolize healing. Gradient colors evoke movement, while layered hues express emotional complexity. The sculptures breathe life into color, activating motion and tension. I perceive my work as a form of storytelling where the malleability of oral narratives inspires a nuanced approach to archiving personal histories. By combining sculpture, drawing, and painting, my hybrid material practice investigates enduring tensions accumulated over time, unearthing possibilities for constructing a future from a suppressed past.