an artists' story of inspiration & perserverance
LOCAL ARTIST IGNACIO GARCIA'S INSPIRATION COMES FROM COMMUNITY AND CULTURE
When Ignacio Garcia was a 4-year-old preschool student he would draw pictures of Spiderman’s face. It was easy to do, and he liked the attention. Nowadays, his artwork reflects border life, pop culture and the social changes currently sweeping the nation. It covers the surface of tall buildings and shows Garcia's decades of experience as an artist.
His work utilizes multiple mediums and spans the whole of Southwestern culture. Garcia can often be found—paintbrush in hand—crafting his next collection inside the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance’s Catalyst Arts & Maker Space located in the Tucson Mall.
Opened last December, the Catalyst space is much more than SAACA’s headquarters, it’s a communal workspace intended to facilitate the creation of art in its many forms. Aside from space to paint, the center includes room for arts and crafts, a gallery, kitchen and shared gathering space spread across 14,000 square feet on the mall’s first floor.
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While some artists choose to spend the COVID-19 pandemic quarantined in their home studios, Garcia returned to the Catalyst center to make sure the rest of Tucson knew art was still alive and thriving in the community.
“I needed to show that this place still existed,” said Garcia, a SAACA board member. “For me to support SAACA after all the hard work they’ve done and the years that they’ve been successful at what they’re trying to do—I just feel heartbroken that they’re going through this situation. I felt like for me to paint live in front of the windows and for everyone to see me paint was just something that felt right for me to do, to show SAACA that I’ve got their back.”
Nowadays random passersby at the mall can watch Garcia paint his newest collection, a series on everyday life in border towns throughout the Southwest, and check out his Iggi Pop series hanging in the center: a pop culture-themed, uplifting project with bright colors and positive imagery.
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Among the recognizable faces in the pop collection are Skeletor from the “He-Man and the Masters of the Universe” cartoon series, Salvador Dali as captured in the famous “Mustache” photo and Ralphie Parker from the 1983 classic “A Christmas Story” sporting his iconic pink bunny costume.
Prior to the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, Garcia was working on projects for nearly a dozen clients. Once those assignments finished up it was a bleak situation and being in quarantine with his 10-year-old son provided additional challenges when there were so few options for entertainment. It was like a prison in your own home, Garcia said. Creativity was difficult to come by—to say the least. |
“There were some ideas that I wanted to do, but something about it just didn’t feel right and you kind of lose hope, but I knew that something remarkable would come out of it,” Garcia said.
Frustration and stress became inspiration, and Garcia found the motivation he needed to pick up the brush in part from the raw energy and determination found in the social causes that are spreading across the U.S. The call for racial justice reminds Garcia of the emotions he felt as an L.A. resident during the 1992 Los Angeles riots. A Benson native, Garcia attended Chandler High School and lived in Phoenix before packing his bags for L.A., where he lived for about a decade. |
While some artists choose to spend the COVID-19 pandemic quarantined in their home studios, Garcia returned to the Catalyst center to make sure the rest of Tucson knew art was still alive and thriving in the community.
Garcia recalls the culture and clashes of the ’90s birthing gangster rap, new art forms and perspectives, and new outlets for Black, Mexican and Chicano communities to find empowerment. |
“That anger spilled over and reflected the struggle of all races dealing with poverty, they were all going through the same thing,” Garcia said. “That movement changed the culture, changed fashion, changed everything...I remember that impact, and it’s the same feeling I am experiencing now—but now I am more mature and can utilize that experience to achieve goals about what needs to be done.” Creating positive change cannot come from a place of hate, Garcia added. “In my experience, if you create something that reflects onto someone, brings back home for them, it’s what encourages them to find empowerment for themselves,” he said. |
Instead of painting pieces in the same vein as his Iggi Pop collection, Garcia is interested in reflecting the world around him in a more grounded and emotional way—and is currently in the midst of his Sonoran Street Art collection.
The new series is meant to illustrate the experience of living in border communities throughout the Southwestern United States and Mexico. It doesn’t matter what race you are, Garcia said, the people that actually live the border life all have the same mindset and share a unique culture. The minutiae of those lives are often overlooked, and Garcia hopes to turn everyday objects into art and reflect the experiences of the community.
“It’s the only way that I can actually create a work that is connected to the people, and it actually helped me be comfortable in my own skin again, being a Mexican-American and dealing with my past and the struggles that I deal with,” Garcia said. “Now, I feel more comfortable expressing that and now I have all the years of experience and can use all of these techniques in one painting. It’s a great way to create an outlet and release all these years of being controlled in the sense of media, the system of the economy and how you need to be doing this or that. Now everyone is at ground zero and we’re all trying to be comfortable in our own skins and make something out of this.” |
It’s not the first time Garcia has painted aspects of Southwestern culture that doesn’t always end up on the canvas. He was one of several artists featured in a 2011 exhibition entitled “NARCO-NATION | DRUG- BORDERS | UTOPIAN-FUTURES.” Garcia crafted his pieces using images of objects found throughout the desert as a result of narcotics trafficking and the U.S. War on Drugs—money, law enforcement badges and surveillance equipment.
Creating a collection is a lot to tackle for any artist, though Garcia said the space available at SAACA’s Catalyst center makes the work a lot easier. Catalyst provides Garcia with the opportunity and real estate to think freely and represent the nonprofit with his artwork. |
“SAACA is such a giving organization and so supportive of what you want to do and it has been with any kind of creator—whether you’re a musician, a culinary artist, a painter or an engineer, they provide that support—especially here at Catalyst,” he said.
While he may benefit from the arrangement, Garcia is hoping that other creatives can take up residency at the mall and join him in the joy of making art.
“Catalyst has been a major, major help and support for me as an artist, and I would love to have other artists here. It doesn’t matter if they’re musicians, engineers, chefs or anything,” Garcia said. “It’s a perfect space for art. That’s why I am here painting.” |