Martta Garcia
This question lies at the heart of Martta García’s work. For her, seeing is not merely an act of the eyes but an act of the mind. She challenges the viewer to educate their gaze.
García explores the tension between visibility and invisibility in a world saturated with images. Through stark contrasts, deliberate framing, and the strategic use of absence, she examines who among the crowd becomes invisible—and why. Her work reflects on what we think we see, what we overlook, and what escapes us entirely.
Walking through cities with her camera, García collects the fleeting gestures, subtle expressions, and quiet presences that later become the foundation of her paintings. Crosswalks and other urban structures allow her to define characters, reveal hidden narratives, and give presence to those on the periphery of our attention. She is drawn to “the invisibles”: individuals who move within the crowd yet remain unnoticed in collective narratives.
How can we learn to see what usually goes unseen?
Painting what provokes her—people, their gestures, their looks, their steps, their silences, their fears, their thoughts—García captures both the inner and outer selves of her subjects, whether alone or in a crowd. Her work uses the power of the gaze to shape both visibility and reality, inviting viewers to pause and examine the stories unfolding around them.
Martta García lives and works in Zaragoza, Spain. Her works are held in private collections in New York, Los Angeles, Atlanta, Toronto, Madrid, and Málaga.
Interview:
‘‘I paint what stirs me: people—their gestures, their gazes, their steps, their silences, their fears, their thoughts... their inner and outer worlds. Alone or in a crowd.’’
