Michael Anthony García
Claudia, 2019, digital photo print, 30 x 40”
Describe your artistic style in three words.
Observational-commentary, material (pun intended), personal
What's inspiring you right now?
Real world interactions with people and objects I encounter spark my inspiration. Either through conversation with people in my daily life, other artists and/or my students, I am changed and often feel a need to respond or react through my work.
Over the past several years, musicality has emerged as a stronger element of my performance work and has been the focus and my dominant creative outlet as of late. Also, having to alter my normal modes of communication as a result of the quarantine, my work has become much more introspective.
What do you do when you're feeling uninspired?
I focus on my daily life and interactions with others. An artist cannot create genuine work in a vacuum. In some way, our work needs to connect to or reflect our lives and/or the world around us, in either concrete or abstracted ways. Accessing connections through texts, talks or music, I can sometimes find pathways to my creativity.
Tell us something unique about your process.
Because of limited studio and storage space, most of my ideas and works are constructed in my head and sketch book years before I make them into physical realities.
As projects materialize over time, I dive into those plans to create from. I probably have ten times as many viable works that have yet to materialize, existing only in idea form, hoping to become a reality one day.
Because of this, I tend to not work in series, instead desiring to bring as many different ideas to fruition as possible.
What advice do you have for other artists?
Continue to make work for "you" even when you're creating for specific projects, and don't get stuck into ruts because you think others want to see the same thing from you. Authenticity is palpable and the only way to be a true artist is to get out of your comfort zone now and again. Take chances and be ok with failing. Not every idea is a winner. Not every opportunity will be ideal. Follow the work's intent and even in failure, the honesty of it will be apparent.
Lucero, 2018, digital photo print, 30 x 40”
Costras Pendientes, 2019, performance as activation of Abraham Cruzvillegas installation at Contemporary Austin
Plancha, 2011, variable dimensions installation, wood, chicken-wire, clothing, shoes, ribbon
En Relieve, 2019, chain link fencing, clothing, 10 x 4 x 5’
Nature Reaches Space, 2017, performance, text, video / photo credit Co-Lab Projects
Tempest Tost, 2017, performance, costume, text, dance / photo credit Sandra Steinbrecher
Suspension of Belief, 2017, cotton trailer, tule fabric, dresses, 21 x 7 x 8'
These images are of the workspaces in my home / home studio. In the first, I work on spoken or musical audio elements for video pieces, and performances, as well as record my podcast (El Puente). The second space is more versatile and is used mostly for construction, and is where I keep/use most of my tools. It is generally reserved for cutting, building, and storing materials, supplies and older pieces. The third space often serves as an overflow for the construction as the work surface is much larger and more dynamic. It is also a space where I work digitally, editing photos, creating mock-ups, filling out applications, and performing all of the administrative aspects of my practice.
Multidisciplinary-artist, independent-curator, podcaster & founding- member of Los Outsiders, Michael Anthony García's practice focuses on photography, sculpture/installation & performance. He's won curatorial & sculptural awards, & premied work in The Texas Biennial, Experimental Action Biennale, SoundSpace at The Blanton, UMOCA in Utah, Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, & Chicago's Threewalls.