Biography
Matthew Willie Garcia is an American multimedia printmaker based in Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. A California native, he holds a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute and an M.F.A. from the University of Kansas.
Garcia's work moves far beyond traditional print media, encompassing screen printing, mokuhanga, projection-mapping, animation, and large-scale installation. His creative vision is influenced by the aesthetics found in Marvel comics, manga, traditional Japanese prints, and Western animation, which he translates through traditional printmaking techniques, particularly screen printing and water-based woodblock. Driven by a passion for both science and science fiction, he explores his queer identity and the mysteries that lie within the vast universe through his art.
Garcia travelled to Japan to participate in the MI-LAB (Mokuhanga Innovation Laboratory) program, deepening his understanding of Japanese water-based woodblock printing. He curated an exhibition at the Mulvane Art Museum at Washburn University in Topeka, Kansas, that highlights the engaging techniques and history of mokuhanga and explores the integral role that water plays in the medium. He participated in the juried exhibitions at the International Mokuhanga Conferences in Nara (2021) and Echizen (2024). He was featured on The Unfinished Print podcast in an episode titled 'Future Nostalgia.'
Key Facts
- Nationality
- 🇺🇸United States
- Movement
- Contemporary Mokuhanga
- Works Indexed
- 3
Frequently Asked Questions
Matthew Willie Garcia is an American multimedia printmaker based in Lawrence, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. A California native, he holds a B.F.A. from the Kansas City Art Institute and an M.F.A. from the University of Kansas.
Matthew Garcia's work was shaped by the Contemporary Mokuhanga tradition in Japanese woodblock printmaking. Contemporary Mokuhanga: Contemporary mokuhanga (literally "wood-block print") encompasses artists working from approximately 1970 to the present who continue or reinvent traditional Japanese woodblock printing techniques.
Matthew Garcia is a contemporary printmaker working in the mokuhanga (Japanese woodblock) tradition. Their work contributes to the living tradition of Japanese woodblock printing. Prices for contemporary mokuhanga prints range from $100 for smaller works to $1,500 for major compositions. Most prints sell in the $180–$600 range. The global mokuhanga community has been growing, with increasing exhibition opportunities and collector interest. Contemporary mokuhanga represents an affordable entry point for collectors.
