Captured within the abstract brushstrokes of his paintings are his personal memories. Camacho spent much of his youth rowing through rivers around the Paraná delta and vividly recalls his journey by boat into the infinite islands. He is inspired and humbled by the force and magic of the element of water, describing it as a ‘sacred gift’. Both the flow of the natural environment and of his memories drives his painting and the images vividly capture this state of flux.

Although Kico Camacho’s paintings belong to the abstract tradition, they suggest a bird’s eye view of the vast expanses of land below, followed by rivers and enriched by the vegetation. For the spectator, this is an exciting and unfamiliar world, but Camacho sees himself reflected in these imposing and tangled surfaces through which he moves energetically, unwaveringly. The singularity of these landscapes lies in the fact that they are aerial views, either shaded by the white of the clouds and fog or illuminated by the shimmering sun.

The exhibition also invites the audience to reflect on the destructive impact of plastic pollution and climate change. His use of colour creates a sense of ambiguity; are the vivid blues and pinks a response to the vibrancy of the birds and water or are they the tones of washed-up plastic? Do his black brushstrokes add to the sense of light and shade or point more directly to the pollution spilling out from major cities? By blurring the lines between the industrial and natural world, Kico invites his audience to reflect.

Camacho’s paintings transmit a sensation of speed and motion, and invite the audience to become an active part of the landscape; we cannot cease to be thrilled by the work of this powerful artist.