Cosmos is a photographic series by Rogier Houwen developed during a two-month journey through Mexico in 2024. Supported by the Dutch Embassy and Terreno Baldío Arte, Houwen traveled from Mérida in Yucatán through Chiapas, Oaxaca, Puebla, and Michoacan, arriving finally in Mexico City. Along this path, he photographed caves, cenotes, Maya temples, botanical gardens, cactus fields, and volcanoes—landscapes where the natural world and the human-made converge. 

In an era where our connection to nature is challenged and shaped by fragmentation, Houwen seeks to restore a sense of unity through photography. His photographic pieces trace the edges where nature and culture meet, not as separated forces, but as parts of an inseparable landscape that instinctively seeks to find its balance.

The title Cosmos recalls its original meaning: harmony. Through observing how the natural world and human-made structures reflect one another through time, Houwen poses a central question: how does culture harmonise with nature—and what might that look like? 

To explore this question, Houwen photographed in areas where natural formation and human intention meet. He captured Maya temples and surrounding caves and cenotes—one architectural, the others geological—yet both historically used as sacred sites and shelters. In his photographs you will not only encounter the resemblances between temples and caves but also ancient technology such as ceremonial stones and ancestral instruments and modern technology such as antennas and communication towers. In turn, these contemporary technologies find echoes in the cacti, plants, trees and leaves: organic “antennas” of the wild. Through a quest for resemblances and interconnection, the project Cosmos invites us to contemplate how culture and nature can exist in a harmonious dialogue.

This body of work has been exhibited by Terreno Baldío Arte in Mexico City from February to April in 2025. Curated by Laura González-Flores.