larí garcía

larí garcía’s exhibition, Spirit of Discrimination, will take the form of an installation, incorporating structures and works produced on site. Many of its elements draw from La Casa de Las Almas (House of the Souls) in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where garcía conducted their studies. This spiritual practice combines French Spiritism, Indigenous knowledge systems, and Catholicism, engaging participants in mediumship and other forms of communication with the dead. The artist’s initial inquiry sought to trace where each of these distinct traditions begins and ends, while also attempting to define materiality within the immaterial. 

During their research, garcía noticed—somewhat unexpectedly—a recurring thread of misogyny. This realization shifted her understanding of both the practice and its underlying science. The exhibition thus centers on the materiality of the immaterial, as well as the discriminatory “spirits” that inhabit religious spaces, particularly formal mediumship temples.

The Spirit of Discrimination is translated through sculptural techniques of compression, piercing, and near rupture—forms that evoke pressure, constraint, and the tension of something on the verge of breaking through. These gestures are directly informed by the narratives and conversations within the transcripts, excerpts of which are included below in draft form. Many of these conversations speak disparagingly about women who have passed, particularly the final entry, which recounts a crime between two women that occurred during my study.

About the Artist

larí garcía (b. 1994, Miami) reflects on the suspension within grief, precariousness, and loss while researching traditions of mysticism and ghostly matters. Recent exhibitions include Prosthetic Cavities, D.D.D.D., New York ; Antenna, LAURA Gallery, Houston; Like a Crowd of Extras, Seven Sisters Gallery, Houston; fuck in bright light, Biquini Wax EPS, CDMX. garcía has attended residencies at the Core Program MFAH,  MASS MocA, Skowhegan School of Sculpture & Painting. They received an MFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and a BFA from Columbus College of Art & Design. garcía currently lives and works in Houston, TX.