Tótem I | JUSTINO DEL CASAR

€0.00

Tótem I is a vertical sculpture by Justino Del Casar that reinterprets the ancestral totem through organic, almost vertebral forms. Standing just over a metre tall, it is the most compact piece in the series, stacking a sequence of swelling and tightening volumes like a spine or a column of living matter growing upwards.

Entirely covered in an intense, matte black finish, the sculpture reads as a single continuous body. The modules shift slightly from one to the next, so the silhouette changes as one moves around it, while light slides over the curves and gathers in the hollows, giving the surface a quiet rhythm. Anchored on a square metal base, the figure holds a delicate balance between weight and upward movement, occupying space with a calm, almost ritual presence.

Made from shredded paper recovered from a Valencian document destruction company, the piece is hand-modelled following the ancient papier-mâché technique, then air-dried, assembled, sanded and polished. What was destined to be destroyed becomes a timeless presence, positioning Tótem I between contemporary sculpture, sustainable art and collectible design.


Artist: Justino Del Casar
Dimensions: H114 × 24.5 × 24.5 cm
Materials: Recycled paper, White plaster, Wood glue, Metal
Year: 2021
Signed and certified by the artist

Tótem I is a vertical sculpture by Justino Del Casar that reinterprets the ancestral totem through organic, almost vertebral forms. Standing just over a metre tall, it is the most compact piece in the series, stacking a sequence of swelling and tightening volumes like a spine or a column of living matter growing upwards.

Entirely covered in an intense, matte black finish, the sculpture reads as a single continuous body. The modules shift slightly from one to the next, so the silhouette changes as one moves around it, while light slides over the curves and gathers in the hollows, giving the surface a quiet rhythm. Anchored on a square metal base, the figure holds a delicate balance between weight and upward movement, occupying space with a calm, almost ritual presence.

Made from shredded paper recovered from a Valencian document destruction company, the piece is hand-modelled following the ancient papier-mâché technique, then air-dried, assembled, sanded and polished. What was destined to be destroyed becomes a timeless presence, positioning Tótem I between contemporary sculpture, sustainable art and collectible design.


Artist: Justino Del Casar
Dimensions: H114 × 24.5 × 24.5 cm
Materials: Recycled paper, White plaster, Wood glue, Metal
Year: 2021
Signed and certified by the artist

About the artist

JUSTINO DEL CASAR

Justino Del Casar is a Spanish sculptor (Madrid, 1971) whose work reflects on the fleetingness of consumer production and the dignifying power of art. Trained at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios Artísticos in Toledo, he treats each piece as an act that quietly restores value to what consumption discards.

In Valencia, he spent years developing his own technique, reducing paper to pulp and remolding it by hand into dense, load-bearing forms, a process that has since become the foundation of his practice. His materials are the objects society turns into symbolic waste: lottery tickets, philosophy exams, court rulings, banking documents, packaging, and propaganda. Through an entirely manual process, he transforms these discarded materials into timeless sculptural pieces, charged with the memory of those who discarded them.

His forms explore the passage of time, fusing anthropomorphism with echoes of ancient, hand-shaped utensils. They challenge consumerist logic and restore the human being above the very objects it produces and discards. Each piece is unique, made entirely by hand, holding the tension between what is fleeting and what endures, resisting a culture that treats everything as disposable.

Since 2013 he has developed, in his studio in Valencia, symbolic and functional sculptural work guided by a simple conviction: consumption is fleeting, the human being endures.

As an artist represented by BLANCONEGRO BARCELONA, Justino Del Casar continues to explore new frontiers, creating works that speak to contemporary experience while grounding themselves in the timelessness of art history.


LEARN MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST