Lydia Garcia – Retablos & Santos
July 7–23, Opening – July 7, 4–6 PM
Nestled among the Sangre de Cristo mountain chain is the village of Ranchos de Taos, New Mexico, an artists’ community since the 1800s. Here art is a way of life. “It’s a simple life,” admits Lydia, “but it’s full of joy and peace. And that’s what is real to me.”
Lydia Garcia, the eldest of five daughters, is one of the foremost female santeras creating spiritual art today. As a life-long resident of Ranchos de Taos, steeped in the Hispanic traditions of art, culture and religion, her art reflects her cultural heritage in all of its passion and depth.
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As a young girl, Lydia worked alongside her father, Elias, while he created santos and wonderful objects in his wood-working shop. Her hunger for art brought her to the studios of two artists, Ward Lockwood and Andrew Dasburg. In their studios, Lydia sat without saying a word so that they would permit her to watch them work. After these sessions she would run home to her mother’s kitchen where she would paint the underside of an oil tablecloth, using the precious gifts of old brushes and partially used tubes of paints that her mentors had given her. In this manner, Lydia initiated her own training. She still paints anything she can get her hands on: recycled wood, tin cans, old furniture, and treasures left outside her home by neighbors and friends.
Today Lydia is a full-time santera and continues to paint and sculpt in the same adobe workspace built by her grandfather, Antonio Vigil, where she was born and raised working with her father. Here she integrates contemporary media, such as acrylics and recycled and found materials. Although modern in technique, the core of Lydia’s work embodies the traditional faith in God and spirituality in her historic role of santera.
Lydia inspires others with her faith. “Life is a prayer,” she says. She gives thanks to God for the many blessings in her life, including five children, ten grand children and two great-grand children. She passes on blessings to her collectors in the form of unique hand-painted prayers found on the back of her work. For others, she teaches workshops, blessing her students through her instruction and guidance. Her passion and faith touch the many folk she encounters through her art, her prayers and teachings.
Lydia’s retablos and bultos have been acquired by some of the finest private collections and museums worldwide.
