Daniel Silva

Daniel Silva works with installations that are driven by materiality and informed by nature. Perception and contemplation play an integral role in forming a cohesion that is not led by a fixed narrative. Among the materials used by Silva are beeswax, magnets, charcoal, metal and wood, all fundamental in delivering an orchestrated interplay of emotive and referential cues. “As a shifting, malleable substance, beeswax is central to Silva’s practice. Reflecting an interest in how a material will represent its environment, he indicates that wax produced by a given bee colony will display the characteristics and qualities of its surroundings: the flowers, season and weather conditions present when the wax was produced. As a result, beeswax is framed as the product of the swarm’s ecological relationships, the emergent result of the organization of a singular body composed by a multitude. Silva’s interest in the product of a swarm organism is echoed by his intuition towards a conception of the lived experience as a multiplicity of sensory modalities — one where sight is not privileged over touch, smell, taste or hearing.” Black Wax, Jasmin Blasco June, 2018