Deus ex Terra, where animals are gods
At Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles, artist Martin Wittfooth unveils Deus ex Terra, a series of 19 new oil paintings that honor nature, animals, and the cycles of the seasons.
The work marks a shift for Wittfooth. Once focused on scenes of environmental ruin, his vision now leans toward reverence and renewal.
Watch in the 2nd image below how Wittfooth brings his paintings to life.
The title Deus ex Terra means “god out of the earth.” Rather than divine rescue from above, Wittfooth points to the sacred force that rises from within the planet itself.
The four elements take shape through horses. One carries fire in the glow of molten stone. Another drifts as air, dissolving into a cloud. Earth rises from fungi and ferns along a body of muscle and bone.
Water flows across a horse’s form, alive with sea creatures. These images blur the line between body and landscape, reminding us that life and environment are inseparable.
Rendered in the rich traditions of European oil painting, the canvases glow with atmosphere.
Light pools and flickers, illuminating creatures that feel both real and mythic. Wolves, deer, rams, and horses emerge as elemental figures, carrying the weight of cycles older than humanity.
One side blazes with warmth and summer growth, the other chills with the starkness of winter.
The clash becomes a portrait of eternal opposition, where no season wins but all endure.
From the Moss & Fog Shop
Forest Mushrooms Notebook
An illustrated mushroom notebook, for sketching fungi and ferns the way Wittfooth paints them.
$6
Field Studies Vol. II: The Seasons (Set of Three Printable Art Prints)
Three riso-style prints of the seasons, where no season wins but all endure.
$5
The Little Frog Wrapping Paper Book
Frog-patterned wrapping paper, a lighter echo of the frogs in his Parallelism series.
$19.99
Other works follow this path. A wolf stands frozen as winter’s landmark. A deer dissolves into a forest of birches, its antlers rising like branches in autumn air.
Each animal becomes a marker of time.
In a smaller series titled Parallelism, Wittfooth explores natural symmetry. Circular panels show jellyfish echoing coral, octopus arms twining with blossoms, snails paired with ferns.
The effect is quiet but insistent. Forms across sea and land mirror one another, part of a universal design.
Deus ex Terra runs through October 4, 2025. It offers viewers an invitation to look closer, to see resilience where we might expect decline, and to find reverence in the natural world.
See more of Wittfooth’s work on his website. Used with artist’s permission.
