PORTAL

Web magazine of LLILAS Benson Latin American Studies and Collections

Scherezade García: The Blue Liquid Highway

A broadly smiling woman dressed in black holds two large paint brushes and stands in front of a large multicolored abstract painting that contains images of water. The painting is taller than the woman and takes up the entire frame of the photo.
Scherezade García in Studio, 2021, When the Sea Is My Land

ARTIST SCHEREZADE GARCÍA refers to the Atlantic as a “blue liquid highway,” a “profound obstacle” that provokes her imagination. “The blue sea represents the way out and the frontier. It maps stories about freedom, slavery, and survival, it carries our DNA, . . . reminding us of the fluidity of our identity, our collective memory.”   

A painter, printmaker, and installation artist, the Dominican-born García is assistant professor of studio art in the UT Austin Department of Art and Art History. As a panelist in the 2023 Lozano Long Conference on water, she presented her work in a talk titled “Chronicles of the Liquid Highway: When the Sea Is My Land.” We are honored to feature her work on the cover of this issue and on these pages. 

View García’s work at scherezade.net

Multicolored festive background in blues, pinks, gold. In the foreground, a Black girl in has a bright pink flotation device around her torso. Her hair is golden and one arm is holding the lifesaver.
Scherezade García, Aroma de Cacao, 2022, from series Collective Portraits: The Map in My Skin, 63 x 51 inches, acrylic, charcoal on linen
Scherezade García, Untitled, 2016, from series Granada—Memories Afloat, paintings on paper, 22 x 30 inches each

 

Richly colored abstract painting containing shapes that invoke water
Scherezade García, American Carnival, 2021, from series When the Sea Is My Land, 85 x 85 inches acrylic, pigment, charcoal on canvas

 

Against a medium-blue/aqua background two dark brown figures of women appear to be in the water. There are golden squiggles and circles around them.
Scherezade García, America: Borders and Fireworks, 2017, from the series It’s So Sunny That It’s Dark, 72 x 64 inches, acrylic and charcoal on linen
Against a fuchsia background, the dark brown face of a child is in center. Above their head there is gold, and small dark palm trees dot the canvas, as do pale blue squiggles and other dark printed formations.
Scherezade García, Raining Palm Trees, 2015, from series Súper Tropics, 71 x 43 inches, archival inkjet print, charcoal, and ink on canvas
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