Daniel Castro is a multi-media artist, interested in exploring themes of presence and absence within the urban landscape. By way of combining painting and sculpture, Daniel’s work breaks out of the traditional painting format, creating assemblages that propose painting as object. Born and raised in the Bronx in a traditional Puerto Rican household, Daniel integrates the cultural nuances and histories from his environment within his work.

Growing up in a community where he saw toughness was a necessity, Daniel investigates the performative nature of strength through material play. Utilizing a variety of materials, including found and discarded objects, insulation foam, concrete, and other “non-art” materials, Daniel’s multimedia practice weaves coded statements on contemporary social systems that are embedded in the materials he uses.

His work with clothing – hoodies, sagging jeans, and sneakers – reframes these garments as symbols of identity and systemic scrutiny. The hoodie, a particularly recurring motif in Daniel’s work, symbolizes both protection and perceived threat, identity and erasure.