New Work
Artist Statement
Migration is oftentimes a necessity for a better life. As individuals we carry the memories of our homes, friendships and our own unique stories. This body of work is a continuation of my previous explorations of migration and memory. My work is rooted in desert landscapes of the cities I grew up in Mexico and the United States. Cacti plants are translated into abstracted sculptures made with terracotta clay. The ambiguous sculptural forms, between plant and stone, vary in scale, and represent memories that have been eroded by time.
My current research project was initiated during an artist residency in St. Raphael, France. Eroded terracotta shards of roof tiles were collected on local Mediterranean beaches. They poetically evoke lost histories and I wondered about the origins of the homes they came from and imagined what their histories may have been? These eroded shards are beautiful found objects whose amorphous forms dialogue with my sculptural objects evoking questions of transit, lost habitats, peregrination, journeys through time and space.
I am influenced by works that speak of the human condition through their material choices such as the installations by Damian Ortega, Teresa Margolles, Doris Salcedo, Gabriel Orozco, Joseph Beuys, and Margarita Cabrera. In my work, hand-built terracotta references traditional pottery and aspects of material culture in Mexico. Through my exploration of materials and migration, I hope that the audience finds moments of introspection about our shared land that connects rather than separates us.
Bio
Karla García is a Mexican born, American-based artist that creates installations and sculptures with clay, found objects, and other symbolic materials to her Mexican heritage and migration. She completed an MFA degree in Ceramics and a Museum Education Certificate from the University of North Texas in May of 2019. García has recently attended an artist residency led by Curator and Scholar, Wendy Gers Ph.D. at the International Artist Residency Exchange Studio in St. Raphael, France. García was awarded the Top Prize at the Sixth Annual Artspace 111 Regional Exhibition. She was selected as a visiting artist at the Dallas Museum of Art and exhibited at the 2019 Latin American Fine Art Competition in New York. García currently lives and works in the Dallas/Fort Worth area in Texas.