Daily Inspiration: Meet Cesa Garcia

Today we’d like to introduce you to Cesa Garcia.

Cesa, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I had always wanted to be an artist since I can remember, I was always drawing, painting or building something but I choose printmaking as my favorite art technique to work with. My first experience with printmaking was when I was eleven years old, my dad took me to a linocut workshop when I was living in Oaxaca, and I felt in love with that technique. I’m 2017 I decided to make it serious by taking some formal workshops with “Gabinete Grafico” print studio located in Oaxaca city, and it was not until 2022 that I finally had the courage to quit my ”normal” job and pursue a career and make a living from my art. I started by looking for ways to teach printmaking through workshops, vending at art walks and applying to grants and artist residencies. The beginning was hard but I have been persistent and consistent and thanks to that many doors open. I have had the opportunity to exhibit and curate art shows at the Cheech Marin Center for the Arts, The Ontario Art Museum, The Sam and Alfreda Maloof Foundation, just to mention a few of them, and most recently I had the opportunity to work at Pilchuck School of Glass as print shop coordinator and got the opportunity to be exposed to the glass world, which is something I’m really interested to explore. I would not be where I am today if it was not thanks to places like the Garcia Center for the Arts that allow me to practice my art, and to organizations such as Arts Connection that has helped me propelling my career thought job opportunities and support, that means a lot to me.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been an easy trip, like everything. We always expect things to be easy and fast, but this is an endurance race. Since I’m a freelancer, I have had to create my own opportunities by advertising myself through my artwork, getting in contact with organizations or institutions to propose them art projects/ workshops, and applying for grants and artist residencies. The key here is to be patient, consistent and persistent as I was mentioning before, and go out and knock on some doors. Don’t wait for them to reach out to you. Show them you really are interested on collaborating and work. The opportunities are not going to fall from the sky.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m mainly a printmaker, I prefer working with linocut, woodcut and some screen printing techniques which let you reproduce your work as many times as you wish. It a tedious and long process, especially the woodcut/ linocut ones, since it involves cutting on the wood/ linocut panel to create a stamp to print on paper or fabric. I’m really proud of my work, especially when I work on large pieces and when using stippling cutting technique, it has a bigger impact when people see all the work and hours invested on them. Right now I think I’m still looking for that thing that sets me apart from other artist, but it will eventually get to me.

We’d love to hear about how you think about risk taking?
Quitting a secure revenue source to pursue what you most love doing with the uncertainty that you might not get any income if you decide not to work or do not get any opportunity is a major risk. Everything depends on you, how much are you willing to invest and how to approach it. If you take risks you might never know what you were capable of accomplish or you will regret it once you get older. At the beginning I was worried and scare but as time passes by, I’m more confident, and optimistic about the future, and above all, happy with the decisions I have made.

Contact Info:

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