Artist Highlight: Gabriela Garcia
Photo by: Pedro Wazzan, 2019.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised in Caracas, Venezuela, Gabriela Garcia D'Alta is an artist and architect currently based in Miami, Florida. In Caracas, she studied architecture at the Universidad Santa Maria and photography at the Roberto Mata Taller Fotografía. She has been a resident artist at Bakehouse since 2018.
Can you tell us about your artistic practice?
I am a multidisciplinary artist trained as an architect. I am a born collector and it reflects in my work, which is fueled by constant repetition and interest in quotidian objects, memory, and the transient nature of our existence.
My practice, which involves reflection and learning, is both intuitive and rational. Inspiration comes naturally, whether I am gathering objects or engaging in conversations, many times without a clear goal in mind. Even though these fragments of objects or conversations may not have a deliberate purpose initially, there’s clear intentionality in their evolution, shape, space, and time.
Tell us about a personal artistic project or body of work that you are currently excited about.
I am currently working on my first solo show in the US, here at Bakehouse. It is an exhibition that is coming together after many years of collecting discarded polystyrene (Styrofoam) in Miami. This particular body of work has been evolving as my collection and inventory grows and is meticulously archived and cataloged. I started collecting because of the intrinsic beauty I saw in these discarded items, but and some point I began giving greater consideration to its environmental and ecological impacts.
Tell us about how you have developed as an artist since you began working at Bakehouse.
Being part of the Bakehouse community has been an amazing journey. It is a community with many artists from different countries, practices, and points of view, but all of them are passionate about what they do. These are artists, who live in Miami and are working towards creating a shared memory and expression of a particular time and place: the beauty, problems, challenges, and struggles. We are all different, but we coexist and share in a historic Miami building in the heart of Miami. And, someone always has coffee to share!
Gabriela García, Tower, 2020. Digital photograph. Courtesy of the artist.