The work of Daniel Otero Torres is grounded on the re-construction of ideology through drawings done by hand over aluminium and steel. Moving in the frontier between drawing and sculpture, Otero Torres’ origami-like constructions appear at first as uncanny grand-format black and white photographs. Upon closer inspection, one realises the images are in fact handmade drawings, laboriously done with graphite pencils over a flat surface that has the visual weightlessness of paper but the actual density of metal.

The artist’s unusual technique succeeds in creating a dislocation of materials as well as of contexts: his images often represent not a single individual but a visual and historical collage created from a number of sources: from antique archives and books, to found images in contemporary newspapers or online sources that reflect the artist’s process of understanding the role of marginalised or largely ignored populations that have, nonetheless, played essential roles in recent and past history around the world.

The multidisciplinary work of Daniel Otero Torres encompasses sculpture, installation, ceramic work, pictorial practice, as well as drawing, which connects from the beginning all his creative facets. Many of his works stand out precisely because of an absolutely unique technique that explores the frontier between drawing and sculpture, marked by a virtuous photorealistic trait applied on monumental cut-out steel structures. This process manages to create a dislocation of materials and contexts. Generally, his images do not represent a single person but a visual and historical collage created from different sources, from archives and old books to images found in contemporary newspapers or online sources.

Daniel Otero Torres

Los trazos del mar, 2023