Mario Soares’ artworks can be perceived as descriptively raw, emanating a nomadic universality that speaks directly to the lived experience of migration. In First Commander and Owners, now on exhibition at Artyli Gallery, Soares depicts faceless portraits of Black African women at the marketplace—figures who embody both strength and survival within the informal economy. Their anonymity becomes a mirror of displacement, invisibility, and resilience, while their presence pays homage to the women who have historically spearheaded households and livelihoods across the continent.

Born in Chimio, Mozambique, Soares relocated to Johannesburg in 2008, where he worked as an embroiderer before training at Artist Proof Studio. Today, from his studio in Johannesburg, he continues to explore themes of migration, nostalgia, and belonging through textured printmaking, spray paint, and collage. His works resonate with the complexities of urban life and the quiet strength of those who sustain it.