Kim Garcia is a Los Angeles–based multidisciplinary artist whose work begins from her experience as the daughter of immigrants, tracing how personal memory expands into questions of belonging, power, and the making of American identity. Working across sculpture, installation, drawing, and painting, she uses material processes to engage what resists closure, approaching history as something active and embodied. Through folding, compression, and accumulation, Garcia constructs forms that reflect how memory and history are continually reshaped, bringing together diverse materials into fused structures with layered meanings.

Recent projects move from intimate family narratives outward to examine Filipino American identity and U.S. imperial histories, extending private memory into larger geopolitical frameworks. Moving between small-scale objects and immersive installations, Garcia creates environments that invite viewers to reconsider America as shaped by layered arrivals, contested belonging, and unfinished histories.

Her work has been presented in solo and group exhibitions at Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, Feia Gallery, Phase Gallery, the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles (ICA LA), and Torrance Art Museum. She is the founder of The Cold Read, a writing-based critique collective, and co-founder of After Hours Gallery. Garcia holds a BA from UC San Diego and an MFA from UC Irvine.

Contact: kimfgarcia@gmail.com
Instagram: kimwantscoffee



Education
MFA Studio Art. University of California, Irvine
BA Visual Arts Studio, Summa Cum Laude. University of California, San Diego
Certificate of Performance, Museum Studies, Dean's List. San Diego Mesa College

Upcoming
2026 Feia
2026 Luis De Jesus

Solo Exhibitions
2023  Smoking in the Garden, Phase Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2019   i leave this standing stone to be a sign, Best Practice, San Diego, CA
2018  is love a tender thing?, University Art Gallery, Irvine, CA
2017  Something We Don't Know - Part 2, Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego
2015  We are where we are not., Disclosed unLocation, San Diego

Two Person Exhibitions
2025  Tender Material, DMST Atelier, Los Angeles, CA
2025  PAST CONTINUOUS, Museum of Art, Fort Collins, CO
2025  In the Land of Gods and Monsters, Feia, Los Angeles
2021   THE HIDEBEHIND, after hours gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2015   Everything in-between us., HB Punto Experimental, San Diego
2014   Our Current State, ADK Gallery, San Diego
2014   twofold_, Disclosed unLocation, San Diego

Group Exhibitions
2025  The Dinner Party, The Middle Room, Los Angeles, CA
2025  Endless Forever, Luis De Jesus Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2025  Irritant, Nous Ance, Los Angeles, CA
2025  INTERIORITIES,  Luis De Jesus Los Angeles, CA
2024  A BUCKET FULL OF MACADAMIA NUTS AND A TIP OF SUGAR, Harvest & Gather, CA
2024  TRYST, Dinghy Rig, Torrance, CA
2024  Everything is Waiting for You, Phase Gallery, Los Angeles
2023  Incognito, Institute of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles
2023  Nomad II, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
2023  Expansion Joint, Durden and Ray, Los Angeles, CA
2023  The Body is the House We Live In, The Floating Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022  Beta Epochs, Los Angeles, CA
2022  a line and a long gaze, Phase Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2022  Mixed Media, Site: Brooklyn Gallery
2021   SMC Faculty Art Exhibit, Santa Monica College, Pete & Susan Barrett Art Gallery 
2021   Meet You at the Garden Gate, Peripheral Space, Los Angeles, CA
2020  Backyard, DXIX Projects in conjunction with Other Places Art Fair, Virtual Exhibition
2019  Adjacent Adjacent, Torrance Museum of Art, Torrance, CA
2019  sluice over the braids, sweet forming, Eastside Internationa,l Los Angeles
2019  Efímera, Blue Roof Studios, Los Angeles, CA
2019  MICROLOGIES, Scharaun, Berlin, Germany
2019  Blended, DAC Gallery, Los Angeles, CA
2018  Artist and Location, CICA Museum, Korea
2018  Arc, Wobble, Fade, Fold, Human Resources, Los Angeles, CA
2018  Drawings, paintings, maybe a sculpture 2, Everybody Gallery, Tucson, AZ
2017  The Leaning Tower of Pisa, DXIX Projects, Venice, CA
2017  Peintures et dessins par, À l’Abbaye de Bassac, France
2017  Baker's Dozen VI, Torrance Art Museum, Torrance, CA
2017  Boiling Process 5: Mythodologies, San Diego Art Institute
2016  Slippery When Wet, GAIT LA, Los Angeles
2016  New Contemporaries: San Diego Art Prize Nominees, City College Gallery
2015  DATE NIGHT, SDAI Project Space, San Diego
2015  Gone Paintin', California Suites Hotel, San Diego
2014  BOOHAI, Ship in the Woods, San Diego
2014  Open Walls Project, Art San Diego Contemporary Art Fair
2014  BETTER OFF NOW, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery
2014  LURE, San Diego Mesa College Art Gallery
2011  Art Labs, Hilton Bayfront, Art San Diego 2011 - Contemporary Art Fair
2011  8x8 Cubed, SPACE 4 ART, San Diego
2011  Color Me Alchemy, Voz Alta Project Gallery, San Diego


Awards
2019 Hopper Prize Finalist
2016 / 2017 H.B. and Isabelle Yolen Memorial Scholarship
2016 / 2017 / 2018 UCI Research and Travel Grant
2016 Millennial Exploring Engagement Grant
2015 UCI Diversity Recruitment Fellowship
2015 Italo Scanga Memorial Scholarship
2015 Hajim Family Alumni Scholarship
2014 Class Project Grant
2014 Russel Grant
2014 UCSD Studio Honors Program
2014 William F. Rogers, Jr. Scholarship
2011 Clairemont Art Guild Scholarship
2010 Synergy Art Foundation Scholarship


Press
2025  SB Independent Artistic Research Preserves Cultural Memory and Care.
             Debra Herrick. Dec 15. Web.
2025  Foundwork Guest Curator Selene Preciado. April 1. Web
2025  Lum Art Magazine.Alongside: Húóng Ngô and Kim Garcia in dialogue. Mar 19. Web
2024  Testudo. Kim Garcia is Evolving the Narrative. Testudo Studio Spotlight. Jan 26. Video.
2023  Testudo. Third Things & Third Places: Building Relationships Through Art. Reilly Clark.
             Nov 1.
2023  UCI Connect, “More Than Just A Phase, LA Gallery helps UCI Art Students and Alumni.”
             Richard Chang. Fall 2023. Print.
2023  Shoutout LA, “Meet Kim Garcia, Artist Ravinah Shah. Sept 11. Web.
2023  VoyageLA, “Conversations with Kim Garcia.” Jasmine Brown. Jun 19. Web.
2022  Testudo, “She has her mother’s eyes: An Interview with Kim Garcia.” Kate Parvenski.
             December 27. Web.
2019   Art and Cake LA, “Adjacent, Adjacent at Torrance Art Museum.” Genie Davis,
             Dec 21. Web.
2018   New University, “ The Distinctive Works of UCI’s MFA Students.” Eashan Kotha,
             May 15. Web.
2017   San Diego CityBeat, “Artist and students document hidden art...” Kinsee Morlan,
             Aug 17. Print
2017   Long Beach Post, “...Next Wave of LA Contemporary Artists at GLAMFA.” Asia Morris,
             Jan 25. Web.
2016   Contemporary Art Review LA 'Slippery When Wet at GAIT.’ Angella d’Avignon,
             Oct 27. Web.
2014   Culture Buzz "The supple ideas in ‘Lure’ at Mesa College Art Gallery.” Robert L. Pincus,
             Feb 14. Print.


Talks/Podcasts
2025  Artist Talk, hosted by Pomona College. Nov 20.
2025  Artist Talk Panel, hosted by Nous Ance at TRYST. July 13.
2025  Artist Talk, hosted by LA Tactile Lab. May 30.
2025  Artist Talk, hosted by Cornell University AAP, Feb 10.
2024  Into the Bog: A Conversation on Fiction and Grief, La Beast Gallery. Oct 13.
2024  Materiality: Artist Talk, San Diego State University. March 22.
2024  Narratives on Family, Community, and Materials. I Like Your Work Podcast. Apr 26.
2024  Artist Talk, hosted by WORK and I Like Your Work. Jan 22.
2023  Artist Talk, as part of UCSB Colloquium Series. May 18th.
2017   Censorship is a symptom of oversight at the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego,
             as part of the exhibition, Something We Don’t Know Part 3: Can You See Us?
             July 29 - August 17.
2013   Reset: Mandeville at the University Art Gallery of the UC San Diego.