Artist of the day: Artist of the Day, March 24, 2022: Beth Garcia, an American ceramist artist (#1529)

One of Beth Garcia's first loves was science. She started college with the intention of obtaining a science degree, and she took art classes as electives. Just two classes shy of a biology degree, she switched majors.

Beth Garcia, a Lakeland Florida resident, went on to complete her bachelor's degree in fine arts from Austin Peay State University, Clarksville, Tenn., in 1981, and her master's degree from University of Wisconsin, Madison, in 1984. Both of her degrees focused on printmaking, and she taught two dimensional art at universities across the country until she moved to Lakeland in 1997.

Her earlier work was primarily figurative, inspired by dreams and social interactions. She worked mostly in lithography, but also enjoyed etching.

When she was offered a job teaching ceramics at Auburndale High School, she did not know how to work with clay, so she had to teach herself. That's when she fell in love with the medium, and the subject of her work turned back to her biology roots and her fascination with the microcosms she sees while hiking or kayaking.

"I think that in working with clay, I gave myself permission to be more playful; that it was OK just to make plants," she says. "Ultimately it's about life cycles, but I didn't know that until I let myself play."

Garcia's sculptures are like something out of a science fiction or fantasy landscape. Seed pods grow into seashells with tendrils, or gourd shapes explode into fleshy flower forms. Long flat areas created by dragging her fingers across the wet clay are reminescent of seaweed.

Her colors vary from bright to muted, but always with a matte quality. Garcia began collecting 1940s ceramics long before she took up the art form, and she did not see the influence of that collection until it was pointed out to her.

"As an artist who loves biology, when I kayak, hike or go to the beach I take a field guide with me so I can name the various plants and animals that I encounter. Their infinite patterns, textures and colors fascinate and inspire me. I combine structures from plant, fish and fowl to design my own biomorphic forms. I am particularly fascinated by seed-pods because they symbolize both the beginning and the end of a life cycle.

Clay is used to construct these textured, undulating seed-pod inspired forms that suggest motion. By focusing on whimsical color relationships and a variety of patterning, my artwork celebrates the diverse and transient qualities of life. After all, in life the only constant is change and while that may be a bit frightening it is also beautiful, exciting and worthy of celebration."
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