Erin Garcia: Gates of Heaven

Recent explorations by Erin D. Garcia have put the artist’s definitive visual language to work to create suggestive, often playful forms. Subtle techniques developed through physical and imaginative rigor embed bodily presence in the pieces. Colorful gradients seem alive. The viewer can sense human movement in the shape of an orange.

In Gates of Heaven, he continues this process to the point of paradox. Garcia’s ability to create moments that are so private and singular, so physical yet abstract, brings his work on an inward journey to reach the infinite. There’s a play between ideals and imperfections: rollers, brush tips and rough surfaces all have their say. The collection also draws on tropes and techniques previous writers and artists have used throughout history to try to comprehend paradise: you’ll see flowers, figures, landscapes and gateways.

This palette of rudimentary forms returns us to primary techniques of understanding the world. In Gates of Heaven Garcia succeeds in imagining a realm outside of this one: as if for the very first time.

-Jimmy Jolliff