Chocolate is deeply intertwined in the history and consciousness of Mesoamerica — the region encompassing parts of Mexico, Belize, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. As Meredith L. Dreiss and Sharon Edgar Greenhill write in their new book, Chocolate: Pathway to the Gods, "The place held by chocolate in matters of creation, fertility, death, and rebirth is just now being understood after years of scholarly focus on maize (corn) as the primary sacred food of pre-Columbian Mesoamericans."

So it's especially fitting that Donna Nelson's new show, "Folk Images of Mexico," opens at Kakawa Chocolate House on Friday evening.

The 16 pieces hanging in the show deal with people in their natural environment, Nelson says, doing things like cooking or spinning or working in the mercado — "people working as they do every day."

Nelson had been looking for a place to show her work when she attended the opening of the chocolate house and met owner Mark Sciscenti.

"I fell in love with the place because it's so simple and so Mexican," she says. "I knew instantly that this was the place that I wanted to be."

Nelson was inspired to paint everyday life in Mexico, she says, by past photojournalism work in Tibet and Nepal.

An avid mountain climber, Nelson began traveling in the Himalayas in 1979. She began documenting the different cultures of the region, she says, in response to comments from other visiting Americans, who would say things like, "We've got to clean this up," or "We've got to bring these people into civilization."

She heard similar responses when she started visiting Mexico about 10 years ago, she says. "Most people don't fully realize what a rich culture Mexico has," she says. "We don't hear enough of the good things about the history of Mexico."

WHAT: Folk Images of Mexico, 16 oil-on-linen paintings by Donna Nelson

WHEN: Opening reception, 5 to 7 p.m. Friday; show runs through Sept. 30

WHERE: Kakawa Chocolate House, 1050 E. Paseo de Peralta, between Old Santa Fe Trail and Canyon Road, across from Gerald Peters Art Gallery

FOR MORE INFORMATION: Call 982-0388