Didi Garza

My work ranges from representational to abstraction while incorporating common parameters such as strong contrasts, e.g., light/shadow, inner/outer space, distortion/reality, and a vivid palette rooted in my Latina heritage. My processes incorporate collage, mixed media, and sculpture. I am currently working on three themes in my art that are inspired by personal aspects of my life:
• Inner Landscape-based on my career and fascination with biomedical sciences, both sculpture (plaster and bronze) and 2-dimentional works on paper focus on organic or biomorphic shapes that allude to an inner human landscape, interconnectedness, and sub-cellular forms and forces.
• Toy Guns-parodies of toy weapons (oil pastel) that are marketed to children and parents. These represent my strong aversion to guns at the most vulnerable level of our society.
• Bicoastal Imagery-small-scale pastel & mixed media abstractions inspired by the water, land, & cityscapes of two coastal regions, San Francisco Bay Area and Houston, TX, where I own residences. I spend most of my life in these cities.

I have been awarded art scholarships, shown in juried exhibitions, group exhibitions, and am a volunteer for community art and healthcare organizations in the SF bay area and in Houston, TX. After maintaining a career in medical laboratory sciences, and attending art school, my part-time career as an artist has now become my primary focus.