Natalia Garcia-Lee

Artist Statement and Practice

I am a multi-disciplinary visual artist with a focus on oil painting, collage, drawing and jewelry. My artwork explores the constructs of human behavior, the ‘how’ and ‘why’ of what we do as a species. My fascination with human nature stems from the constant realization that each individual, including myself, is a single facet of a larger social system within  which we are all required to navigate. Through my research what becomes most interesting to me is what humans do collectively and how that manifests in the real world. For every series I try to find and understand the root causes and behaviors that produce any observable outcome. Although the causes and truths regarding our behavior are elusive, the endeavor is rich with possibilities for expression in multiple disciplines. Working in a series-based practice allows me to explore and discover each concept from different points of view. I employ techniques from each medium resulting in varied mark making that I use interchangeably between paper, canvas, metals and found objects. In doing so, I attempt to deconstruct the concepts of behavior through the process of abstraction.

As a multidisciplinary artist I endeavor to have a diverse and experimental approach in my artistic practice. I use traditional techniques coupled with unconventional methods of application across my primary mediums of oil painting, drawing, collage  and jewelry. I use conventional and unconventional methods of application such as paint rollers, hand-printing, ready and handmade stencils, squeegees and random everyday objects which often lead to unexpected results and exciting mark making. My process in making the works, whether it’s painting drawings or collage, is a process of trial, error, discovery and repetition. In a process-oriented approach to mark making, I emphasize layering, repeated imagery, text, and the juxtaposition of forms to create space. In addition to using a variety of mark making tools and techniques, I use a multitude of mediums for the works on paper and the jewelry that include ink, graphite, acrylic, markers and various papers. In jewelry, it includes the combination of fine metals, leather, plastic, paper, aluminum or iron.I work on multiple series simultaneously. This multidimensional approach allows me to navigate the general idea of the work from different perspectives so that the suite of paintings, collages, or drawings can all address an idea from different points of view.