Artist Statement
My glass sculpture series, “Don’t Touch My Hair,” inspired my Flash Project workshop. This series draws from my personal experience as a child when adult strangers would touch my hair. This action echoes the lack of personal boundaries/ body ownership of African American slavery. Today, these same beliefs have evolved into microaggressions such as hair touching. I have replaced the hair with various materials that convey the alluring exoticism of curly hair. The process of creating the sculpture series was a mediation about my childhood experience. It fostered the space to examine my experience with my body and reminded me of how our bodies can shape our interactions with others.

My intention with this workshop is to invite others to meditate on their experiences with their bodies utilizing the body as a vehicle for human connection and empathy. I place the body as a lens of introspection to past experiences. I present my process behind “Don’t Touch My Hair,” and display the series during the workshop as examples of how I interpreted my experience.

I will show a short presentation where I explain other artists such as Rebecca Horne and Janine Antoni, who used the body as a muse for their art. Then, I guide the participants to create their own self-portrait as a meditation. Each participant will create their own 3-D self-portrait in mixed media as a reflection upon their personal experience with their body. It allows for participation and engagement that is non-verbal and hands-on. This is meant to be an intimate experience, where the participants are given a safe space to be vulnerable. To accomplish this, I limit the class size to 20 people or less. Anyone age 9 or above is encouraged to sign up. Children ages 9-12 require an adult to be present and seated next to them. Wear clothes that are paint friendly! The duration of the workshop is anywhere from 2 ½ - 3 hours, depending on the pace of the group. The timing of this workshop is significant as it precedes Juneteenth, a celebration of the end of slavery. 

Bio
Alexandria "Inez" Garcia grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. Sparked by her desire to pursue art, she moved across the country. She attended Alfred University, the nationally second ranked glass art program, located in upstate New York. She continued her path by fusing her art and Chicana identity. She earned a minor in Spanish Literature, specializing in Latin American cultures. Her senior thesis combined the two with a visual representation of western perceptions of Latin culture.

She continued her exploration to the Basque Country in Northern, Spain. There, she studied a semester in the Universidad de País Vasco in Bilbao and witnessed the Spanish "Crisis" as Spain underwent an economic collapse in 2012. This altered her perspective on art making and cultural identity that still plays out in her work today.

Now, she primarily works in glass, exploring multiple modalities of the medium through casting, painting. and screen printing. She partners with local non-profits and educational institutions to instruct sculpture classes, provide consultation, speak publicly, and create representation for women of color in the arts. These local organizations include Ogden Contemporary Arts, Curly Me!, The Leonardo, The Springville Museum of Art, and Salt Lake Arts Academy.