Victor-Raul Garcia
Mileses, New York
Website
www.victorraulgarcia.com
Social Media
Instagram
How would you describe your work?
The mental part of my work has always been about my psyche, and my constant need to expulse my inner demons, ghosts and flying monkeys. Now, I’ve come to a place in my life where there’s less anger to vent - my struggling inner self is struggling less. So now, instead of going all out with abstract expressionism, I’ve toned that down a bit and combined it with work in solid color fields, as a way of aligning my vision with my newfound inner peace and harmony.
The physical part of my work includes painting and collaging with acrylics, pastels, and spray paints over canvas, fabrics, cardboard and other discarded material.
Can you speak about your process?
Step 1. My mood. Which dictates what colors I’m going to work with.
Step 2. The layering. Deciding what textures, materials, and arrangement of shapes.
Step 3. My subconscious takes over. I’m in a beautiful trance where I’m lost – who knows where – then I come back, land on earth in front of what my selves have created.
What inspires you?
What inspires me is laughter, human character, history and color eclecticism, and the ridiculousness of life.
How did you become interested in art?
I was kind of compelled to do it as a surviving mechanism. I needed an escape from childhood trauma, and also something to release my pent-up energy from ADHD. So I found discarded old windows and used those as my initial canvases.
Do you have any favorite artists, movies, books, or quotes?
Artists: Simon Kilvert, Chris Peterson, and Anton Taylor White, Cab Kenningale and Hermann Josef Hack
Movies: Cinema Paradiso, A Beautiful Life, and Young Frankenstein
Books: The Agony & the Ecstasy, A Gentleman in Moscow, All the Light We Cannot See
Quotes: “Do unto others as you would them do unto you”.
What advice do you have for younger artists?
Bring the humanity out of trash. Upcycle as much as you can. We must do our part to lower our carbon footprints. But at the end of the day, create based on who you are.
Any more thoughts about art of cretaivity?
Art education is something of major importance to me. Children need to express themselves, especially with things they can’t always talk about. Art saved my life, but like I said, I was compelled to do it. There should be more creative art classes in school for children during their developmental years.
