Victoria Leonisa Garcia is an Australian-Filipino artist, illustrator and textile designer based in Sydney, Australia.
Victoria works across fashion textiles and illustration, homewares, interiors, and costume/film.
Garcia has been commissioned by major brands and companies including Marvel Studios, Warner Brothers Productions, Microsoft and Sass and Bide, and has produced large-scale public artworks for Wollongong Central and Ambush Gallery (2017), Broadway Shopping Centre (2016) and Oxford Art Factory (2013). In 2017 Garcia was awarded the Southlands Breakthrough Emerging Artist Award from Penrith Performing and Visual Arts and a Summer Studio Residency with Penrith Regional Gallery.
Her work has been featured in 'PATTERNBOX' curated by The Textile Art Centre New York, and published by Princeton Architectural Press.
With a strong background in design and visual art, she works across fashion textiles and illustration, homewares, interiors, and costume/film. Victoria’s approach to art and design has been heavily influenced by her illustrative work and she specializes in creating hand drawn imagery and pattern.
She is currently represented by illustration agency International Rescue.
Photo: Callie Marshall
ARTIST STATEMENT:
“I grew up in the small Sydney suburb of Leumeah and had a unique childhood immersed in the Australian bushland. Not fully ‘Australian’, yet separated from what is culturally familiar, as a first-generation immigrant I’ve always wrestled with the frustratingly abstract notions of identity and place. Returning to the Philippines on multiple occasions, I found a culture that was both familiar and distant - which like Australia, has diverse indigenous groups and a history of colonisation by (by Britain, and Spanish and America respectively). I find the complexities of these histories and experiences - seeming to belong everywhere and nowhere - inexplicable and fascinating. As a result, and perhaps influenced by my background and formative experiences, I feel an affinity with indigenous and nomadic cultures and am strongly drawn to nature.”
EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)
2018 - The Ideal Home, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney
2018 - ‘Spirit’ , Woodburn Creatives, Sydney (upcoming)
2017 - Landing Points, Penrith Regional Gallery, Sydney
2015 - Secret Garden , Drawing Book Studios Gallery, Melbourne
2015 - The Ladies #2, District 01 Gallery, Sydney
2015 - Heroine, Goodspace Gallery, Sydney
2014 - The Lab, Art Pharmacy, Sydney
2013 - Chasin’ The Demon, Salerno Gallery, Sydney
2013 - City VS Nature, Art Pharmacy, Sydney
2012 - Victoria Garcia - SURROCODELIA Platform 72 Gallery, Sydney (Solo)
2012 - Le Femme, Kaleidoscope Gallery, Sydney
2011 - COFA Annual, UNSW Roundhouse, Sydney
2011 - Rare Earth, Bridge 8 Gallery, Shanghai
2011 - Kudos Award Finalist Exhibition, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
PUBLIC ART
2017 ‘Floating Garden’ commissioned by Wollongong Central and Ambush Gallery
2017 'Tropico' commissioned by Westfield Chermside & Ambush Gallery, Sydney
2016 ‘Nature Palace’ commissioned by Broadway Shopping Centre, Sydney
2013 ‘Hyper Nature’ commissioned by Oxford Art Factory, Sydney
2013 ‘Private Universe’ wallpaper commissioned by Oxford Art Factory
AWARDS/GRANTS (SELECTION)
2018 - Create NSW in association with NAVA - Artists Grant (Round 4) 2018
2017 - Penrith Regional Gallery Summer Residency Program 2017
2017 - Southlands Breakthrough Emerging Artist Award
Recognises outstanding emerging artists at a critical juncture in their career
2013 - Recipient of the Australia Council for the Arts Artstart Grant
This grant awards $10 000 to emerging artists at the start of their career.
2011 - The Sir William Dobell Foundation Award for Drawing
The Sir William Dobell Art Foundation wishes to encourage excellence in drawing and draughtsmanship.
This prize was awarded by the Foundation and the UNSW College of Fine Arts.
2011 - Selected as Finalist for the Kudos Award, Kudos Gallery, Sydney
FILM WORK
‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings ’ Marvel Studios (2021)
Textile Graphic Designer. Directed by Dustin Daniel Cretton.
‘Aquaman’ Warner Bros Feature Production (2017)
Textile Graphic Designer. Directed by James Wan
‘Gods of Egypt’ Pyramania Films (2016)
Textile Graphic Designer. Directed by Alexander Proyas.
PUBLICATIONS / TALKS
2018 - Access Arts - Creative Partnerships Conference, Whitlam Institute & Artist Guest Speaker
2015 - Idea Bombing Sydney - ‘Creative Risks’ - Artist Guest Speaker
2013 - ‘PATTERNBOX’ 100 Postcards by 10 Contemporary Pattern Designers‘
Curated by the NY Textile Arts Centre and Princeton Architectural Press.
WORK HISTORY
2012 -present. Artist and Illustrator, represented by International Rescue.
Clients/commissions include : Microsoft, Karen Walker, Stoneleigh Wines, Lisa Ho, Canon, Mambo, NBN Australia.
Oct 2014 – Jan 2016: Textile Artist and Designer at Sass & Bide.
2014 - present Artist Workshops, Sydney Children’s Hospital.
Follow along:
