Our inaugural Fantast in Focus, Spanish painter Hernan Valdovinos uses his brush to paint tales of adventure and intrigue. His splendorous icons exude the feel of Orientalism; some conjure up sensations of a golden age Ruritania, while others take their aesthetic cues from Slavic mythology and The Arabian Nights. Educated in Chile, Spain, and Italy, Valdovinos noticeably draws upon a variety of influences in occultism, mythology, and religion.
Many of the subjects in his paintings are sagely, bearded men adorned in sweeping Turkic or Persian garments, nestlike turbans, and glittering jewellery. These magical figures (many of whom carry the epithets ‘genius’ and ‘khan’) glare out of the frame powerfully, as if to magnetically attract a viewer’s soul.
The titles of the art pieces also illustrate Valdovinos’ diverse mythopoeic inspirations. A few examples are: ’Zoharom’ (The Zohar is the prime text of the Kabbalah), ‘Vayuu’ (Vayu is the god of the wind in Hinduism), ‘Zahelastro’ (‘Sarastro’ was the mystagogue in Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Magic Flute), and Atarban (‘Atar’ is the name for holy fire in Zoroastrianism).
Another painting, ‘The Genius Magician’ is reminiscent of ‘The Magician’ trump card from The Rider-Waite Tarot. Like the Rider-Waite magician (pictured on the bottom of the page), Valdovinos’ magician holds a wand and stands beside a pentagram, chalice, and sword.
If you’d like to learn more about Valdovinos and his world, check out his website: