Mario climbed the mountains of Guatemala with Mayan revolutionaries in the 1970s, learning their struggle and ways of survival in the rough terrain. He was born in Guatemala on October 21, 1943, in the La Reformita neighborhood in the department of Izabal. He grew up in an idyllic setting with a creek running in front of his house, surrounded by Corozo and Cypress trees, where he played and collected jute and watercress for his mother’s broth. He finished primary school in Guatemala and was later trained as an industrial mechanic. At the age of 24, he had access to plastic arts workshops at the Popular University of Guatemala. From an early age, Mario had an irresistible inclination for drawing, but as his society grew ever more repressive, he joined the larger struggle for justice in Guatemala, which prevented him from pursuing his passion for the arts. For his political convictions, he suffered time in prison, torture, and exile. This leads him to fight a long and painful political asylum case in the United States, where he eventually is able to resume his calling and starts by receiving plastic arts workshops in Minnesota for 6 months.

 

Mario is the father of 4 daughters and 3 sons, all dedicated to some art work, be it interior design, photography, music, painting and jade work. He is married to Gloria de Ávila, a history teacher and Calligraphy artist.