Artist Investigates Eternal Aspects of Nature through Animal Divinity Concepts

Throughout the entirety of art history, nature has consistently been a timeless theme. It has symbolized rebirth and change in Sandro Botticelli’s *Primavera*. It was embodied in Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s renowned *The Four Seasons*. It shaped numerous pivotal art movements, spanning from Romanticism to Impressionism. Currently, it also lies at the heart of Martin Wittfooth’s newest solo exhibition, *Deus ex Terra*.

Wittfooth has consistently concentrated on nature in his artistic endeavors, but *Deus ex Terra* may be his most ambitious and thorough work to date. If the title provides any insight, the exhibition centers around a series of deities derived from the earth, represented not as human figures but as wild creatures. The Canadian artist evidently favors horses, though wolves, deer, polar bears, and rams prominently feature in his grand oil paintings. In Wittfooth’s recent pieces, these animals do not simply occupy our natural realm. Instead, they dictate it, actively influencing and personifying organic rhythms, cycles, and principles.

For these reasons, *Deus ex Terra* can be best interpreted as an exhibition in two sections: one devoted to the four seasons, and the other to the four elements. Each artwork visualizes the core of its theme, repeating well-known symbols that guide us toward their significance. *Aspect of Winter*, for example, illustrates a wolf looming over an ice floe, its blue fur encased in tightly packed snow. Even without its title, the artwork is unmistakably a winter scene, complete with a vivid color scheme and a stark, icy landscape.

*Aspect of Autumn* is similarly inviting, featuring a colossal deer trudging through a birch forest. Its head is concealed by a cascade of orange and red leaves, which gently detach and descend toward the ground below. Also adorning the deer’s skull are a huge set of antlers, rising and twisting through the sky much like the other trees that encircle the canvas. The resemblance between the deer’s antlers and the surrounding birches highlights the painting’s fundamental harmony. Here, there is no distinction between an animal, a season, and nature.

Regarding the four elements, Wittfooth revisits horses. Air is represented as a swirling cloud shaped like a horse’s head; fire as a volcano marred by fissures and molten lava; earth as an ancient assemblage of fossils, mushrooms, and ferns; and water as a submerged sculpture, engulfed by seaweed, fish, and barnacles. There’s a compelling contrast in these artworks, where horses, typically agile and swift, are depicted as enduring elements of nature, their existence tracing back millions of years.

This continuity is, of course, the central theme. *Deus ex Terra* not only honors nature’s grandeur but also unveils how eternal it is—or, more precisely, how eternal it *ought* to be. For years, Wittfooth has been concerned with humanity’s fraught relationship with nature, whether through the persistent climate crisis or resource depletion. This exhibition demands that we face the forces that have shaped our world for countless years. After all, nature existed long before humanity.

*Martin Wittfooth: Deus ex Terra* is currently on display at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles until October 4, 2025.