Daniella Portillo

Alongslide the exhibition 'Inner Child', Opera Gallery is delighted to present Daniella Portillo's evocative showcase exploring the emotional terrain of her native El Salvador. Through muted palettes, distinctive brushwork, and masterful light techniques, Portillo creates powerful landscapes that balance representation and abstraction.

Portillo's works in deep grays, stormy blues, and smoldering ochres reflect her personal journey since emigrating to the United States in 2004 amid political unrest. A pivotal 2018 return to her childhood home sparked this compelling series, transforming her grandfather's house and its surroundings into rich fields of subconscious exploration now created in her New Jersey studio.

Working without preliminary sketches or photographs, Portillo approaches each canvas instinctively, guided by her remarkable sensitivity to light and colour. Her paintings blur distinctions between water and land, storms and volcanic activity, creating an intentional ambiguity that captures the essence of memory itself.

In this exhibition, Portillo invites viewers into her emotional memory landscape, where poetic impression transcends topographical precision and her recollections of El Salvador shimmer with spiritual depth.