Mario Davalos

Beauty, in its visual forms, is probably one of the most powerful forces in the history of humanity. Carnal attractions, filial love, art and our deep fascination for the natural world, are all visual expressions of our constant search for beauty.

It is very likely that the first manifestations of this transcendental force were expressed to humans through natural phenomenons in truly wild places; the night skies, a herd of elephants, the northern lights… our relationship with the natural world not only defines us as a species, but also as social and cultural beings. Art history is filled with examples of the powerful influence nature has had on our collective visual culture and our relationship with aesthetics.

My work employs contemporary aesthetics and my training as a painter, not only in the use of color and space, but also from strong pictorial influences, especially from the work of Paul Cézanne, J.M.W. Turner, Helen Frankenthaler and Robert Motherwell.

I aim to potentiate the man-nature connection through simple and fragile images, and instead of denouncing the pressure over natural resources or documenting scientific phenomenons of behaviors, create images about the last, truly wild places on Earth.

July 2015, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic