Utilizing the concept of the garden as raw material, Daniel Adolfo develops a series of paintings and sculptures that evoke his childhood. The exhibition titled “Permanent Green” presents a body of work created within the residency system within the gallery. It is an intimate and expressive series that speaks to how the garden is a space of learning, memories, and vulnerability in childhood.

By taking these personal memories, his work functions to some extent as autobiography, and the canvas as an archive. The canvases, which recreate gardens, are abstract paintings that materialize different spaces that anyone can find within their memories in those formative years. His intention is not to depict these places in detail, but to capture sensations and portray the spirit of that past which maintains an impact on the present. His paintings do not show us flowers, trees, or plants but rather textures, strong and saturated lines, soft strokes, and empty spaces. It is a work that generates permanence by reconstructing that space, and in some way, it is familiar to us.

This exercise of reminiscence also leads us to nostalgia, that semi-bitter aspect of memory. Therefore, the paintings filled with vibrant colors are accompanied by strokes and black marks that are also found in the ceramics accompanying the exhibition. These small sculptures represent the shadows of the garden flowers. A reflection of the reflection.

It is natural for memories and learning processes to be anchored to a space; for Daniel, it remains Venezuela and the nature he found in the gardens of his childhood. In some way, talking about memory also opens up the possibility of envisioning the future, and with it, the canvases delve into the artist’s ability to explore the abstract and expressive in painting.