A place in the world: Enrique Zaldivar exhibits his paintings at the West Orange Arts Council

A place in the world

The landscape has been one of my most recurring themes in recent years. This focus hasn't been intentional, at least not consciously. I know that, at this point in art history, the landscape is nothing new—although today, almost nothing is. Even the most transgressive phases of art have seen their decline, becoming part of the vast sea of the past.

Does it make sense to continue revisiting familiar topics like the landscape? I say yes.

Since the beginning of art, humanity has repeatedly represented nature. Centuries, even millennia, have passed, and nature remains vital to artists. Nature—or everything that surrounds us—is the foundation of all learning, and observing it is the primary source of inspiration for creators. The landscape serves as a metaphor for life itself. Everything is in constant motion. Symbolically, we are like a landscape—a seemingly ordinary and simple scene that holds profound significance. Every time I paint a landscape, I feel I’m delving into the idea of finding purpose in the cyclical, repetitive, routine, and even mundane aspects of life. Many people ask me: Why isn’t the human figure more present in your work? To answer that, I would simply say that, in a philosophical sense, a tree and a human being are not so different to me. Although I may not focus on the human figure visually, I do feel that it is present conceptually, as part of nature. I understand the reasons that have led us to believe that humans are the center of the universe. However, for me, we are just one element within the entirety of existence—one small part of the infinite machinery of the universe. This is essentially what drives me to work with landscapes. It’s an exercise in searching for the meaning of things and the place I occupy in the world. Sometimes, I find answers; sometimes, I don’t.