Picture Theory is delighted to announce the first solo exhibition with New York based painter Christopher Daharsh. Dancing in the Firmament invites audiences to delve into the intricate relationship between the human psyche and the natural world.

Daharsh transforms blank canvases into dynamic landscapes that embody shifting states—fractals that evoke the essence of dusk and the turbulence of storms, rendered in vivid, embodied strokes. His work navigates the delicate interplay between man-made and natural elements, drawing attention to the often-overlooked beauty found in the tension between them.

Firmament is described as the “arch of the sky,” where the heavens meet the earth and serve as a physical barrier between them. In reference to biblical cosmology, firmament is the solid dome created by God during the world’s conception. In Daharsh’s newest painting, titled after the show, separation is marked by spherical strokes, symbolic of life’s cyclical nature. Throughout his process, Daharsh collects shells, seed pods, bark, detritus, discarded bits of metal and captures photographs of nature, most recently inspired by his time in Japan at Hayama Artist Residency. His sculptural works intertwine shells with metals reminiscent of bulbous anthropomorphic growths prompting viewers to reflect on the impact of human existence on the environment.

Dancing in the Firmament engages landscapes as a site for Daharsh’s explorations of the natural and mystical world. The mystical world becomes alive with revelations of our symbiotic yet damaging affair with nature.

–Evyn Bileri Banawoye


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Christopher Daharsh (B. 1990, Omaha, Nebraska) received a BFA in Painting and Art History from the Kansas City Art Institute in 2012. Christopher has attended a number of residencies since then, including two yearlong residencies from the Charlotte Street Foundation (Kansas City, Missouri), Art Farm (Marquette, Nebraska), the Factatory (Lyon, France), Hayama Residency (Hayama, Japan) and Goldey House (Huletts Landing, NY). Recently Christopher has shown work at Haw Contemporary (Kansas City), the Nerman Museum of Contemporary Art (Overland Park, Kansas), Mother (Beacon, NY), Capsule Bikini (Lyon, France), Les Limbes (St. Etienne, France), Deanna Evans (NYC), New Collectors (NYC), Underdonk (Brooklyn), My Pet Ram (NYC), Picture Theory (NYC) and Koki Arts (Tokyo, Japan). Christopher currently lives and works in Queens.