Downtown Los Angeles’ Corey Helford Gallery (CHG) is proud to announce its next major solo exhibition by award-winning and internationally renowned Canadian artist Martin Wittfooth. Set to premiere August 30th in the Main Gallery and be on view through October 4th, Deus ex terra marks the artist’s fourth solo show at CHG.

One of the most provocative artists of the New Contemporary movement, Wittfooth’s paintings, drawings, installations, and sculptural works use allegory and symbolism to explore themes of the intersection and clash of industry and nature, and the human influence on the environment. Many of his works also explore shamanistic themes, symbolizing humanity's attempts to connect with both external and internal nature through rituals and practices.

In Deus ex terra, Wittfooth turns to the enduring forces and cyclical rhythms of nature as muse and mirror. The Hermetic maxim “As above, so below; As within, so without” has echoed through centuries of philosophical, mystical, and artistic inquiry, suggesting a correspondence between the macrocosm - the vastness of the cosmos - and the microcosm - the intimate world and the myriad webs that bind it, of earthly life. In Deus ex Terra, this principle serves as a guiding thread, illuminating the ways nature repeats its patterns across scale and time: in the branching of rivers and the veins of leaves, in the spiral of galaxies and the coiling of shells, in the cyclical turning of seasons and the rhythms of breath and heartbeat.

Wittfooth’s inquiry follows a long lineage of artists, philosophers, and mystics who have turned to nature as both teacher and muse. Botticelli, in works like Primavera, used allegory to celebrate nature’s rebirth and transformation. Albrecht Dürer’s meticulous studies of plants and animals reveal a reverence for the intricate order of the living world. The Romantics sought the sublime in symbolic landscapes, while writers and philosophers such as Goethe, Thoreau, and Emerson recognized in nature an abiding wisdom—a mirror for the human soul and a reminder of our place in a larger web of being.

As Terence McKenna argued, nature is not inert or mute matter but an active, communicating field, brimming with pattern and purpose that we might perceive if we were to pay close attention and tune to its frequency. Other thinkers moved by direct experience and personal reflection, such as Alan Watts and Ram Dass, similarly described the sacred as immanent in the present moment, in the unbroken flow of life itself, and urged us to remember that “the universe is not outside of you, you are it.”

In past bodies of work, Wittfooth has often centered on humanity’s troubled relationship with nature: ecological crisis, exploitation, and the marginalization of the natural world. In Deus ex terra, the artist shifts his focus in the direction of perennial themes: to reflect on its enduring and ancient rhythms that prevail despite our human tumult. In a time of deep cultural and ecological upheaval, these paintings offer an invitation to acknowledge, to remember, and perhaps to heal, by reconnecting with the timeless forces that have bound together life and a sublime order on this planet for millennia beyond our counting.

In this latest body of work, Wittfooth joins the chorus of artists, poets, and seekers throughout history who have set aside the human drama of the present moment to give the wonder of nature center stage, reminding us that the notion of the sacred is not a distant abstraction, but a living presence beneath our feet, in the air we breathe, and in the pattern of the seasons that turn endlessly around us, with or without our influence.

Deus ex terra promises to be Wittfooth’s most cohesive and ambitious show to date. The artist has started sharing work-in-progress videos, providing a sneak peek into some of his new works featured in the upcoming show (including Aspect of winter, Aspect of water, and Aspect of fire).

Open to the public and free to attend, Deus ex terra is set to debut on Saturday, August 30th from 7:00 pm – 11:00 pm in the Main Gallery, alongside The three graces group exhibition in Gallery 2 featuring mini-solo shows by Allison Reimold (titled The blue hour), Dewi Plass (titled On the bright side), and Kelsey Beckett (titled Sharp edges). Plus, CHG’s Hidden gems from the studio II group exhibition is also set to premiere in Gallery 3. All shows will be on view at CHG through October 4th.