MILA GARCIA
Artist Statement
My abstract painting practice centers on process, intuition, and relationship. I work with oil on
canvas and approach each piece as an open dialogue – between myself and the materials,
between color and shape.
Rather than beginning with a preconceived notion of how the painting will look, I allow the
painting to evolve through spontaneous mark-making and responsive layering. Each shape, edge,
and texture invites a reaction. I follow my intuition and listen closely to what the painting
demands.
Over time, I have developed a personal visual language that resists rigidity and invites flow.
Often, the final work is nothing like what I envision at various stages throughout the process.
The painting finds its own form and I follow its lead. This mirrors my approach to life:
embracing change, rejecting stagnancy, and seeking meaning through connection.
I view my work not as a statement, but as an invitation. Abstract art has the power to reflect
something personal back to each viewer, but only if one takes the time to engage. My hope is
that people find their own relationship with the work. My work beckons the viewer to slow
down, feel something unexpected, and see themselves in the painting’s rhythm, movement, or
silence.
Artist Bio
Mila Garcia is an Uruguayan artist who currently lives and works in Denver Colorado. She grew up
between Montevideo and Punta del Este, Uruguay, in a working-class household where access to
museums and formal art institutions was limited; yet creativity and art were embedded in her upbringing.
For three years, her parents ran a small arts school they built from the ground up. They invited visual and performing artists to teach in the community. It was there that Mila was introduced to multiple forms of artistic expression, including ceramics, painting, dance, and piano. Though the school was short-lived, it sparked a lifelong relationship with art.
While Mila grew up working-class, her step-grandparents – who came from Uruguay’s upper class
–traveled extensively and their home was filled with artwork and collected objects from around the world. Their home became Mila’s personal museum and an early source of wonder. Beyond the visual richness, she was drawn to their way of living. They were curious, expressive, and open to the world. Travel became an aspiration for her from a young age, and it continues to be a vital part of her life and artistic practice today.
In 2010, while studying fashion design at the University of Buenos Aires, Mila realized that it wasn’t the
fashion itself that fulfilled her, but the freedom to experiment and express herself through visual art. That moment solidified her commitment to art as her true path.
Mila’s creative process is spontaneous and intuitive: it is an ongoing conversation between her internal
world and the canvas. Her work reflects a unique and evolving visual language rooted in emotion,
relationship, and exploration; one shaped by her upbringing, personal history, and experiences both in
Uruguay and the United States.
