events.
click on images to go to exhibition pages
May 3, 2024, 5-11pm
#ArtJam: Strawberry 🍓
The Lab: Creative Resource Center,
125 State St. Rochester, NY 4614
TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE FOR
#ArtJam: Strawberry 🍓
$10 pre-sale; $15 at the door: (Get a goodie bag with the purchase of a presale ticket, pre-sale available until May 1st.)
WHEN: May 3rd, 2024, from 5-11pm. #FirstFridayRoc
WHERE: The Lab: Creative Resource Center (125 state street, Rochester, NY 14614) an accessible space in downtown Rochester that is accepting of everyone no matter race or identity.
WHAT: Our full event program includes:
🍓13 LOCAL MUSICIANS
WHO: The planning committee so far is Zie, Fry and and myself. We are all members of the Rochester Artist Collaborative and we are collaborating with the Free Art Collaborative. Check for updates on our Instagram page.
WHY: Why not! Our goal is to have regular #ArtJams where we can celebrate each other and grow together as artists; grow our networks; and have a great time doing what we love.
HOW: We would love to tap into the tremendous potential of our networks through the Rochester Artist Collaborative and Free Art Collaborative to create a unique experience. We need sponsors, performers, vendors, and volunteers to do this well. So we will put out calls for specific roles over the next few weeks and may reach out directly based on our needs.
exhibitions.
::texture::
finger lakes coffee roasters (may 2024)
Pittsford Plaza: 3349 Monroe Ave # 35,
Rochester, NY 14618
::texture:: has always fascinated me and i have been playing with it using different materials for a couple of years. i am excited to bring you my first exhibition of ::texture:: at the super cute finger lakes coffee roasters. all pieces will be available for sale. i will also be selling some of my journals and maybe some prints of my other work. works in progress below...
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exhibition opening event
#FirstFridayRoc: june 7, 2024, 5-9pm
::flora:: is a large project focused on my love of the non-fauna natural world that is leading me to create all kinds of fun pieces and merchandies. visit the virtual gallery of my ::flora:: project in development
exhibition opening event
#FirstFridayRoc: august 2, 2024, 6-9pm
::los cantineros:: celebrates our unsung heroes of art — bartenders. for the past couple of years i have been visiting bars in mexico, new york city, and locally and ordering a drink. if i like the drink i have been asking the bartenders if i can paint them and tell a little of their story. i am up to 11 bartenders so far. pictures of some that still need to be painted are below. this is a super exciting exhibition since all the paintings are in watercolor, one of my favorite mediums. i may also be reading some poetry and performing some live music at the opening event on #FirstFridayRoc august 2, 2024, 6-9pm. stay tuned...
i am SUPER EXCITED to collaborate with equal = grounds community cafe on a bunch of fun art and community building activities that we are affectionately calling ::queerly yours:: i will be selling pieces in 3-month cycles on a theme. below are the pieces for sale for this quarter's theme ::queerly yours:: curator's choice.
we have also been discussing the possibility of some community building activities focused on emotions, loving yourself, mental health, eating healthy, journaling, storytelling etc — drawing on my doctoral training and practice as a clinical psychology psychotherapist and holistic yoga teacher. details tbd.
read about the first cantinero i painted while on artist residency in guadalajara mexico: «miguel nuño hernández»
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click on images to go to exhibition pages
february 8, 2024, 7pm - 9pm
i exhibited three pieces of art. two of them are for sale at my art store as indicated below. i was so deeply honored to be featured along with
visual artists katharine torgersen, micah "breeze" walker, & zie stauffer; and musicians L. é Dee. & Daniel Alejandro Rivera.
click on the links below to purchase and/or for a digital exhibition of each work
$333
$280
fuego coffee roasters (october 2023)
exhibition closing event: october 20, 2023, 5pm - 7pm
this is a joint exhibition with skyla pisciotti & karis underwood
click on the image below for a digital exhibition
ugly duck coffee (september 2023)
click on the image below for a digital exhibition
click on images to go to exhibition pages
«salud project: COVID bubble»
sanando en comunidad
july 10, 2022, 10am - 9pm
while on my first artist residency at jupiterfab, in guadalajara mexico, the residency team and i decided to collaborate on a joint mural inauguration/residency open house. i was fresh out of TOO MANY years of doctoral training in clinical psychology, and really wanted to do something focused on healing as a community from our COVID experiences — the theme of my mural «salud: COVID bubble». this was my first indoor mural, completed in collaboration with local artist denise quezada.
i will always be grateful and so proud of the program we put together, which included: two free yoga classes; a free watercolor painting workshop by incredible local artist and healer kandani pintor ide; donation based chair massages from local vivacious massage therapist/artist/musician paloma huerta cortes who also sold her handmade samadhi sanación integral beauty, cosmetic, and personal care products; a free workshop on sound improvisation by the amazing local musician and producer pedeplei; a free live original dance performance entitled "reconstrucción 2.1" by esencia_transmutable_danza, choreographed by the amazing rossana quezada, a free live performance of three songs i wrote for the mural inauguration («simple truth,» «how love should feel,» and «mind over matter»), performed with local musicians pedeplei, the magical liz ruvalcaba, and the gifted scholar and musican gus larroyo; a live performance by local musicians for the international positive songs project, led by liz ruvalcaba; a free community music jam; along with plenty of food and drinks from local businesses and vendors including pulque degollado; and a photography exhibition by my residency roommate turned bff, the fantastic british photographer francis william payne. this event was a dream come true on so many levels for me. see below for photos and vidoes of the event.
click below for galleries
«salud project: COVID bubble»: sanando en comunidad
promotional materials & agenda
«salud project: COVID bubble»: sanando en comunidad
event photos
«salud project: COVID bubble»: sanando en comunidad
performance photos & videos
murals.
click on images for gallery
ceramics.
click on images to enlarge
you do not get the power of your vision until you perform it on the earth for the people to see! — black elk speaks.
image 1 (on the left) shows attempt 1 of n to create a pottery bowl like the oval bowl with tabular handles in image 2 (on the right), presented in the book tainos: arte y sociedad. the book explains that the triangular designs are a stylized suggestion of winged bats, which are central in taino creation stories and belief. for attempt one i used thicker clay and more square-like handles to get the hang of working with this shape for the first time. i am looking forward to seeing this fired and to more attempts
replica: attempt 1
original
«volver a vivir» is my first #CeramicSculpture. the glazing came out much better than expected. the emerging face represents my journey into learning more about my #taino ancestry. knowledge is emerging and still so much is not yet clear.
wood art.
presenting «homenanje al duho» #acrylic paint on a 12 inch hand turned basswood flat wooden bowl. the piece is a study of designs on sections of the duho (ceremonial seat) at the museo del hombre dominicano, in dominican republic. duhos were ornately carved wooden ritual seats used by taino caciques or chiefs during ceremonial communication with the the spirit world. my wooden bowl is focused on the circles with a central point, a prominent symbol in taino art that is thought to have great religious significance (e.g. the center and/or divinity); u-shape-connected triangles; teardrop shapes; and the face at the front of the duho (see images 3,4). there is a strong symbolic visual and geometric language across taino art forms — however the key to their exact meanings was destroyed by european colonization and genocide. this piece is the first of a planned collection of various art pieces & forms that i am using to connect with and better understand my taino ancestors, their art, their beliefs and world view, their medicine & healing practices, and their wisdom.
FOR SALE: $375
contact me for more information
click on images to enlarge
«la heliosfera» (acrylic & gouache on an unfinished wood canvas ; aluminum foil & wire planets ; glitter asteroid field ) celebrates the protection provided by our sun's heliosphere, the giant invisible bubble of protection surrounding our solar system that ends around pluto (see image 2 for a diagram). this sphere of protection is filled with our sun's magnetic solar wind, the stream of protons and electrons released from the sun that are responsible for the aurora borealis visible on our planet (this blows my mind).
imagine, we live in and are protected by our sun's atmosphere — we aren't floating unprotected in empty space!
a popular taino sun symbol is at the center of «la heliosfera», with solar wind represented by swirls going out evenly in all directions — connecting to form a protective bubble (swirls are prominent in taino art). taino art, beliefs, rituals, and ceremonial plaza construction reflect deep reverence and appreciation for the sun's creative, life-sustaining, and protective forces in our lives.
concentric circles extending from the ssun, represent the orbit of the planets in our solar system. i chose aluminum foil & wire for the planets and glitter for the asteroid field as fun reminder that these amazing bodies in our solar system reflect the sun's magical energy back to us constantly.
please accept this invitation to ::savor:: how well protected and nourished we are by our sun. we literally live in a cozy and magical bubble of life!
click on images to enlarge
about.
name: mani garcia
location: rochester, new york, usa
bio: i am the love child of bob ross and bob marley — savoring life one creative expression at a time. since childhood great depth, color, emotion, and amazement have been buzzing in me at all times. my art is about savoring all of those things — and giving them breath and form in this world. neither breath or form are predetermined. so I’ve been blessed to create art with music, with poetry, with illustration, with small objects and installations, with textural and interactive pieces, with ceramics, with origami, with painting (small scale & murals), with storytelling, and with homemade organic healing skin/lip balms.
i most deeply connect with others through art. so I’m not satisfied with waiting for the world to discover my work. for all of my projects i seek out and cultivate a community to explore, create, witness, and celebrate with. i share with family, friends, strangers, on social media and on this website. i frequently work with collaborators and love organizing community events and exhibitions. art for me is inextricably linked with education, science, and health. so, I have doctoral training in neuroscience, social, and clinical psychology—specializing in therapy for trauma, anxiety, depression, and ODC. i am also certified as a holistic yoga teacher, and group fitness instructor. lately i am very focused on exploring deeper layerings of the many forms of expression i savor — exploring new breaths — and new ways of using public art to promote and improving mental health and wellness for individuals and communities.
in my poetry i use the double colon before and after a word to indicate the ::experience:: of something. i call my art studio/practice ::savor:: because in my art i am always trying to communicate my experiences of savoring all the things that touch, bewilder, and fascinate me. these are my sources of artistic inspiration.
