Ceramicist Gonzalo Garcia arrived at clay by way of a wonderfully nonlinear path—one that began under the warmth of stage lights, bloomed through the seasons of life, and eventually circled back to a need for making that felt both urgent and familiar. His sculptures carry that lived-in sensibility: tender, mischievous, and alert to the inner lives of the characters he coaxes from clay. Working skillfully by hand, he builds immersive worlds—each one shaped by intuition and humor, as well as the kind of imagination that comes from listening closely to materials, memory, and the precious moment at hand.
Garcia generously took the time to speak to Whitewall about his tender approach to hand-building, the emotional architecture behind his signature characters, and what lies ahead in his growing creative universe.
Portrait courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WHITEWALL: You entered the creative world through theater and Broadway at a remarkably young age, taking on the major role of Gavroche in the original production of Les Misérables. How did that early immersion in performance and storytelling begin to shape you as an artist?
GONZALO GARCIA: My immersion in performance and storytelling began even before my time in Les Miz, when I first heard an audience laugh at a bit I did at 6 years old in a production of the musical Mame. The bit…I climb onto a bar, somehow manage to make a martini with my tiny hands, serve it to the actor, and deliver the line, “Stir, never shake. Bruises the gin.” I remember the audience reaction, the laughter, and the applause (which, in hindsight, was probably because the bit took me a solid 5 minutes), but THAT was the pivotal moment I fell in love with art and story. That creative bug bit…and gurl, she bit HARD.
Rediscovering the Creative Self Through Clay
Gonzalo Garcia, “Three Sages,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WW: After some years spent in other parts of your life, clay became the medium that reopened the door to your pure artistic instincts. What was happening internally when you first returned to making, and why do you think ceramics became the place where your creativity could speak freely?
GG: Yeah, I took a LONG break from the arts. I fell into other professions that took up so much of my time, and I didn’t allow myself any space to tap into anything fun and creative. COVID hit, I turned 40 at the start of lockdown, and like so many, I took the time to reassess some things in my life. I think everyone was feeling the same way. I needed something new to occupy my mind. I then discovered the versatility and reusability of clay, particularly when hand-building and sculpting.
Hand-Building as a Pathway to Imagination
Gonzalo Garcia Sculpture, Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
Gonzalo Garcia Sculpture, “Sad Eyes,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WW: Your practice centers on building directly with your hands. What draws you to that intimate, sculptural approach, and how does it affect the rhythm and physicality of your pieces?
GG: Most folks who enter the world of ceramics start at the wheel. It’s a great introduction to understanding clay, and that’s how I began. A lot of folks find a sense of tranquility when throwing on the wheel. I. Do. Not. I turned to sculpting and handbuilding because the process of engineering a sculpture, like my robots, lets me take my time and use my imagination to figure out how I’m going to build something. It’s one of the few times I can truly ignore everything around me and hone in on what I’m building. Another bonus, I waste way less clay hand-building. Sculpting allows me to connect fully with the material and the ideas I want to bring to life.
Building the Robots: Humor, Emotion, and Speculative Futures
Gonzalo Garcia, “REBOOT,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WW: The mesmeric robots you create have a distinct mix of humor, tenderness, and futuristic wonder. What sparked their invention, and how do you imagine the inner life or emotional register of these beings?
GG: To be perfectly honest, the robots came from simply letting myself play. Usually, when I test a new clay body, I start by building a simple box. It helps me understand how quickly the clay dries, how well it bonds, and whether it can maintain its shape during firing. That day, a simple test box quickly became a robot head, and from there the idea snowballed into a series of robots.
“Sculpting allows me to connect fully with the material and the ideas I want to bring to life,”
Gonzalo Garcia
In REBOOT, a series recently shown at the Emerging Gallery in Los Angeles, I explore the meeting between a human and a robot. In the series, a robot and a human meet; the human cares for the robot, repairing it, repainting it, nurturing it, like the way we tend to our devices, our feeds, and our digital selves. But plot twist, the human eventually finds themself imprisoned inside the robot’s head.
Gonzalo Garcia, “REBOOT,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
Gonzalo Garcia, “REBOOT,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
The relationship echoes the age we are living in now, where AI and technology are evolving faster than we can fully understand. The loss of jobs in creative fields and the environmental impacts on small communities. We build these systems, we maintain them, and we feed them. But eventually, who is in control?
The Three Sages: A New Chapter of Expression
Gonzalo Garcia, “Three Sages,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WW: How did works like “The Three Sages” come to life, particularly the animated, character-rich faces that seem to move between humor, vulnerability, and reflection?
GG: The Three Sages came to life from a personal place. Last year, I reached a point where I felt tired of building robots and needed to expand into something new. What began as sculptures inspired by Gaudí’s cubist work at La Sagrada Familia in Barcelona evolved into what would eventually become the Sages.
This was a project where I let pure imagination and patience take the lead. I didn’t set out to make a trio. It wasn’t until all three were finished that they revealed themselves as a connected collection, and it was actually my sister who named them The Three Sages.
What Comes Next: Collaboration, Storylines, and Rootedness
Gonzalo Garcia, “REBOOT,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
Gonzalo Garcia, “REBOOT,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
WW: What projects are you currently developing, and what new forms or ideas are you eager to explore in the near future?
GG: I’m currently finishing a few commissions: one is a chess set, and the other is a sculpture. As for any future ideas, I’d love to finally collaborate with fellow ceramicist CoBe Arts and expand the Robot storyline with one of her characters on a slightly larger scale. After my father’s passing 2 years ago, I’ve developed a deeper connection with Spain, where he grew up, and a pull to set some roots of my own there in the following year.
Gonzalo Garcia, “Three Sages,” Courtesy of Gonzalo Garcia.
