Deeply inspired by both his own experiences growing up and the works of Pablo Picasso, Siriaco “Siricasso” Garcia’s rendition of “Guernica” was one of Garcia’s first times expressing his story through his art.

Taking inspiration from Picasso, or more largely Picasso’s painting “Guernica,” which was made to represent the bombings in Spain in 1973, and cubism, Garcia put his own spin on the piece to better reflect himself.

An acrylic painting, Garcia’s “Guernica” gives a glimpse into his life. Split into two major parts; the story expressed in Garcia’s work paints his story from right to left.

Starting in the corner, Garcia can be seen in a cubistic representation of himself blowing a brush as the paint flows off into the larger story.

From right to left, the paint flows into telling the story of his family from Garcia’s perspective.

The leftmost bit represents Garcia’s sister and her difficulties in life. Abused by the man above and to her right, her son is shown brandishing a knife towards the man after becoming fed up with the way his mother was treated and trying to retaliate against the man.

A larger focal point of the painting, Garcia’s father, is represented as a demon. With horns and three eyes, tentacle-like things can be seen with people who are roped into his nefarious ways attached to him, such as Garcia’s mother. A seemingly out-of-place leg can be seen but holds a great deal of importance in showing who Garcia’s father was. A prominent tattoo on the leg is a gang tattoo showing off his past life as a gang member.

To give off the full spectrum of hardships and bad juju, an owl or La Lechuza specifically is pulled directly from Garcia’s culture. Made to represent bad luck and death, La Lechuza encapsulates the message Garcia is trying to express overall in his painting.

The last key piece in the painting lies above Garcia, showing a border wall; his mother’s deportation was a fresh occurrence around the time he painted “Guernica.” Expressing how it affected him on the surface, Garcia expressed how it affected him in the past.

“Guernica” is one of Garcia’s earliest paintings expressing his life, and he has since created more series to tell his life story. With “Teenage Nightmare’s and Teenage Nightmares II,” Garcia is still going strong with expressing his story through his art.