Managing Editor
Since I began profiling local artists in June of 2011, I’ve found these folks in various ways: referrals from friends, press releases from local galleries and museums, Google searches, exhibit openings and so on.
I met Alex Garcia at a downtown Long Beach wine bar while a friend and I were enjoying a few glasses before a concert. I don’t recall which of us mentioned our creative endeavors first, but, at some point, he referred to his art, and I asked to see some of it. It amused me that this young guy’s point of view was so reminiscent of 1960s-1970s psychedelia and that his influences seemed rooted in the rock bands of that era.
Born in Danbury, Connecticut on Aug. 11, 1983 and having lived there until high school, he later moved to Greenville, North Carolina. After serving in the U.S. Marine Corps from May 2008 to April 2012, he moved to Long Beach in September 2012.
“I have always wanted to live on the West Coast,” Garcia said. “I love sunny weather. I can’t stand rain and snow. I love how there are so many different people and cultures. And mainly, I moved here to try and get my art off the ground and make a career out of it.”
Garcia said there are numerous reasons he enlisted in the armed forces. For one, between 2006 and 2008, it was very difficult to find a job as a recent college graduate.
“I had graduated from Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia in 2006,” he said. “I had been living with my mother for about a year, and a recent college graduate’s résumé just wasn’t much of an asset for me at the time. This does not mean the military was my last resort; my mother and I have always got along very well, and she loved having me live there. I also had plenty of time to do some artwork, but I am a very restless individual if I don’t have a job to go to.”
Throughout his life, he’s always liked the idea of the Marine Corps. “You’ve seen all the movies, I’m sure, and I am a bit of a glutton for punishment, and the armed forces were hiring,” he said. “I had an overwhelming sense that I was just too young to be working in an office, and I love the USA. I figured it was time to serve before I spend the rest of my life wondering, ‘What if?'”
How would you describe yourself and what you do as an artist?
I would first describe myself as a person of habit and routine, and strongly individualistic. I am hard-working, motivated and dedicated to whatever job or mission is set before me. I believe my work ethic reflects in my art. No work of art is worthwhile taking on unless it shows that time, sweat and blood were put into it.
What do you think of the art scene in Long Beach?
I love the art scene in Long Beach very much. There are lots of creative people who respect and appreciate art, all forms of it. On the East Coast, my style just doesn’t get much recognition. It seems people on the East Coast pay more attention to tame, more traditional styles such as— I hate to say it— “hotel art.”
What is your greatest obstacle to making art?
My biggest obstacle, and I think the only obstacle I’ve ever encountered in my artwork, is time. I have never had a shortage of ideas. It seems I’m thinking of new ideas every day, every hour! There just simply isn’t enough time to get them all accomplished. But this is a very superficial worry— of course there is lots of time in life, and there are many other things to do. Impatience is a young man’s game.
Do you have a “day job?”
Well, of course. I’m not that good at art just yet. I work at Allied Packing and Rubber, which is near the Port of Long Beach. We make and sell industrial pipe, hose and gasket products, mostly for the Port engineers and shipping companies.
What artistic training or education have you had?
I don’t have any formal art education, I never went to art school, I believe the last art class I took was in my sophomore year in high school, about 15 years ago. That is not to say my friends, family, teachers and professors did not notice and encourage me making art. In fact, I am extremely fortunate to have had very supportive people throughout my life. Without them I never would have progressed to the level I am at.
How did you learn how to create your beer-can sculpture? Was it trial and error, or did you learn the technique through someone else?
Beer-can art was all kind of serendipity. It started while I was staying with an aunt in Pasadena when I first came to California and I visited a bar which had some silly-looking model airplanes made out of beer cans. Very childish, but they fit the atmosphere of the pub just fine. I thought to myself, “I know I could make those better!” A few weeks went by, and I found my job in Long Beach and settled into my routine, and I came into contact with the gasket-making materials and tools we use at work. They are perfect, and I mean absolutely perfect, for making beer-can sculptures. And that’s what I’ve been doing for the past year or so. But, really, all I needed was my own space, time and the right materials, and I pretty much figured it out. I am not the only person in the world who makes beer-can sculptures, but I like to think I’ve got my own technique. I’d be glad to teach anyone in detail, because the possibilities are endless.
How much art did you create during your service?
I didn’t keep track of all the pieces I did in those four years. I’m estimating I did about 40 to 50 in total. Of those, about half were helicopter-blade paintings. They were very sought after. Ballpoint pen became my favorite medium, just because I could take a drawing pad and pens anywhere.
How has your service in the military influenced your art work?
My time in the military influenced my artwork profoundly. It really became my sense of individuality and my sense of freedom. And really became almost a bodily function. Since then, I just don’t feel right unless I have piece in the works. It’s like coming home to a beautiful woman, just seeing my work in progress on my desk and spending some time on it. I met a lot of young individuals who had joined for the same reasons I had, and I made friendships that will last the rest of my life. And everyone I met influenced my art and encouraged me.
Garcia may be contacted at garcia.alexd@gmail.com .
