The brilliantly brazen brushstrokes of artist Monica Garza

Date
24 November 2016

Upon reading the new issue of Riposte the brilliantly brazen brushstrokes of artist Monica Garza caught our eye. The artist’s ability to honestly paint female body types is refreshing to see. Monica is an artist born in Alamogordo, Mexico, before relocating to central Georgia when she was five. This early move started a pattern in the artist’s life of painting and travelling, when time allowed and when she saw best fit.

At 18, she began a course at Syracuse University before leaving “due to cold conditions”. As a result Monica journeyed to the other side of the spectrum climate-wise, travelling to Kibera, Kenya; before settling in San Francisco where she gained a BFA in Painting and Drawing from California College of Arts. Evidently bitten by the travelling bug, Monica travelled to Peru in her summer break and upon graduating moved to Korea. “I gave up painting and art for three years,” the artist tells It’s Nice That. “I went backpacking through South East Asia after Korea and then back to Peru for a few months until I moved back to Atlanta.”

These travelling experiences have informed the artist’s work, each of her pieces naturally present a wealth of colours that merge together organically. Back on home soil, Monica moved to Brooklyn, New York, “for creative purpose with a company, which ended up failing me. I worked full-time, and did a few paintings here and there.” Thankfully, the artist took the leap to move back to Georgia to pursue her painting career. “And here I am, now living in Atlanta. In between all those times, I’ve travelled to a few other countries, and I worked hard, failed often, and struggled daily.”

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Monica Garza: Real $isters

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Monica Garza: Reverse cowgirl- a remix/new mix of reverse cowgirl 2014

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Monica Garza: Monirena and menus

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Monica Garza: I wanna talk about paint

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Monica Garza: Slip of the flip

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About the Author

Lucy Bourton

Lucy (she/her) is the senior editor at Insights, a research-driven department with It's Nice That. Get in contact with her for potential Insights collaborations or to discuss Insights' fortnightly column, POV. Lucy has been a part of the team at It's Nice That since 2016, first joining as a staff writer after graduating from Chelsea College of Art with a degree in Graphic Design Communication.

lb@itsnicethat.com

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