Stefan Garcia Designer, Artist

October 2020




8 1/2” x 11”
Acrylic on Canvas Paper


Description: This series of self portaits functioned as a means of intro-spection to investigate the emotional impact of an extremely turbulent year for the diaspora. The goal was to then record, engage, and emote my own personal feelings through a series of busts that rely on the face and some-times hands to tell the story. In this protrait loose gestural brush strokes are paired with intense detail particularly around the eyes to focus on the intensity of expression. While the black body has told our story to the world for so long - our face and the intimacy of our expression, the humanizing aspect, is often glossed over or ignored.



October 2020





8 1/2” x 11”
Acrylic on Canvas Paper



Description: This particular portrait focuses on detachment; our learned ability to disengage from trauma in order to not be consumed by it. The moment when your eyes have glazed over and we retreat into our-selves to persevere under duress. The colors and tones attempt to protray the light emptiness that accompanies this. The brush strokes are no longer empathic and gestural but smooth and blended, docile - to signify retreat.





November 2020






8 1/2” x 11”
Acrylic on Canvas Paper



Description: Consumption and disbelief. In the weeks-long wait before the election decision we were held in a state of suspense. Winter’s darkness was enveloping us along with the anxiety of the election out-come. Had we done enough and what would the next 4 year looks like? Scenes from the summer’s unrest replay in our heads. Tension is thick.





November 2020








8 1/2” x 11”
Acrylic on Canvas Paper



Description: The final protrait of the series was built around exhaus-tion. After a year of fighting we were still hardly out of the woods. As with the rest of the series the background attempts to reinforce the mood. At the end of 2020 we’re still slopping through the mud but with a little less vigor than before - a little duller - a little greyer, and a little older. However personally I found leaning on art to be therapautic. To try to craft, embody, and release these tensions was in itself a form of agency we’re not often granted in many aspects of our lives.