At Salvador “Bads” Banares Jr.’s latest exhibit “Existence” at Village Art Gallery, you’ll find how human and nature beautifully collide. In his painted world of green and black and white, he seeks the answer to our being.

“Out of curiosity, I always seem to ask, where did we come from and how did we get here? Why are we created when our destiny is to end? Because of these questions, I’ve been able to create the paintings for my exhibit,” says Banares.

Though his artworks are neither the right nor the wrong answers to his queries, his images are filled with allure and magic. Every detail, stroke, color, and texture transports the viewers into his jumbled universe and linger there for a while, asking the same questions, even adding some more. His faceless and faded masterpieces, which are full of expressions and emotions, bring you to a specific time in your life.

These paintings are just part of Banares’ journey of finding his place in this world. Sometimes he is beneath the green trees in “We Are Nature,” or in the black and white forest, where he finds peace and “Sanctuary.” Every so often, he is in the middle of the crashing waves with birds soaring above him where the possibilities of his art become “Limitless,” and sometimes these waves turn into black and white and become “Chaos.”

His “Limitless,” a 48 x 36 inches oil acrylic on canvas, is his piece-de-resistance. It is the door to his mind, a reflection of his world that is full of limitless possibilities, proving that his talent will bring him to places he has never imagined to be part of his journey.

Every masterpiece that tries to justify Banares’ existence also represents our journey in each of our realities. “My portraits don’t have eyes and a little faded because in my mind, everything and everyone is equal and nothing is permanent in this world. We will someday fade away,” he muses.

The Valenzuela-born artist is in his element, not minding the styles of the others but focusing on his own. His multi-layered and transparent approach shows that humans are just a small dot in nature and that there is a bigger world out there, apart from where we are right now.

Banares earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree major in Painting at the University of the East (Caloocan). Prior to his adventures on the canvas, he worked as a mural artist and then joined several group exhibitions. In 2016, he debuted his first solo show “Imaginary Beauty” at the J Studio Gallery in Taguig City.

Village Art Gallery is located at in Alabang Town Center in Muntinlupa City.