DAMIÁN ORTEGA
Mexico City, Mexico, 1967
Director of Fundación Botín Art Workshop in 2022

 Tango Singer, 2021; Modern Idol, 2021; Apiritado, 2021; Modernist, 2021; Cubic Gesture, 2021; Pabiled Soul, 2021; Enlightened Spirit, 2021
Group of 7 masks
Adquired in 2022

Throughout history, masks have played a crucial role in how human nature, identity, and culture are studied and understood. They conjure other beings – spirits, animals, plants – and have a potential for shapeshifting and metamorphosis. Damian’s sculptural masks explore the significant social, economic, and personal narratives embedded in the ephemera of the everyday.

Created as a cathartic response to the pandemic, they are made with found materials that are staples of Mexican life – including guaje, yute, and maize tortillas – optimising what the artists had in the fridge and the garden during the lockdowns. Damian followed his intuition, rejoicing and dancing during the process of making the masks with friends and family, and leaving his imagination to flow unconstrained.