Matthias Garcia

Matthias Garcia’s work is associated with "poetic emotion," similar to the dark poetry of the Surrealists. His paintings draw inspiration from fairy tales and Hans Christian Andersen, featuring delicate human figures and natural landscapes in a style he describes as "against-reality-ish" and "mermaid-ish." Childhood and dreams are the two main themes that Garcia's work centers around, with a sense of ambiguity where dreams can easily turn into nightmares and childhood is viewed as an uncertain state of innocence. Unlike typical characters found in Walt Disney cartoons, Garcia's "childish" figures, such as ondine and mermaid he depicts have unique features, such as stumps for arms or a forked tail with polished toenails on each end. Although Garcia's work is comprehensible, as it stems from his imagination and unconscious mind. The purpose of his work is to evoke sensory responses from the viewer, allowing them to project their own fears and fantasies onto it.