ABOUT

Jonny Garcia is a Canadian multi-disciplinary artist best known for his colorful and emotive digital collage works. Passionate about self-expression from an early age, Garcia devoted himself to numerous disciplines—including hip-hop street dance, acrobatics, trampolining, object manipulation, magic, and mesmerism—prior to serious pursuit of graphic arts. Mastering hypnosis combined Garcia’s love of live performance with a lifelong fascination with the human mind, and inspired further investigations into hypnotherapy which led to a degree in psychoanalysis. The unique combination of Garcia’s extensive studies would greatly influence his future art practice.

 

Life radically changed after Garcia emigrated to Toronto from his hometown of São Paulo (Brazil). Though he held high hopes of attaining artistic freedom in Canada, the move and its subsequent isolation had a major effect on his outlook. Struggling to adjust to being the proverbial stranger in a strange land, he became engrossed in the development of RPG (role-playing game) and larp (Live Action Role Playing) game scenarios as a platform to convey his complex feelings. In the six years immediately following relocation, he authored more than 40 games designed to transport participants out of their normal realms of existence. In 2019, his magnum opus Imperia was published through the support of crowd-funding. That same year, an auspicious visit to the Tokyo Metropolitan Teien Art Museum introduced Garcia to the haunting Surrealist photo collage of Toshiko Okanoue. Profoundly inspired by the wonder and versatility of contemporary collage, he purchased the exhibition book, returned to his hotel, and began constructing collage on his iPad. Over the next two years he would produce nearly 300 unique digital collage compositions. 

 

Garcia’s collages have been on display as part of the Impromptu IV exhibit at the Cultural Center of Cape Cod (Jan 29‒Mar 8, 2020), the Cut/Paste/Resist Pop-up Exhibition at the University of New Brunswick Art Centre, and was selected to become a permanent part of the Schwitters’ Army Collection of Collage Art at MERZ Gallery. Garcia has also been a featured artist at Light Space & Time Gallery.