Hot Sheet is delighted to present Where the Wind Takes Us, a solo exhibition by Colombian artist Daniel Arteaga. This new body of work marks a pivotal moment in Daniel’s practice, one where process and intuition take the lead, and where abstraction opens into a space of both play and reflection.

Daniel’s earlier works were rooted in panoramic photography, compressing and reinterpreting landscapes into painted form. While that influence persists, his new direction moves away from direct references, embracing a process that is more intuitive and responsive. The paintings begin without a fixed plan, unfolding through touch, gesture, and layered improvisation. Daniel describes the experience as “a search, of building on top of what appears, of responding in real time, and of discovering what a painting can become.”

At the centre of the exhibition are the Tajada kites, inspired by the handmade kites of his childhood in Cali, Colombia. Daniel reconstructs these forms entirely from memory, using them as stencils and compositional tools, but also as carriers of cultural and personal meaning. The kites operate not only as symbols of flight and freedom but also as self-referential devices within the paintings. As Daniel states, “My work engages with self-reference, the way one element reflects or alludes to another, much like in life itself. The paintings seem to aspire to become kites, suggesting a desire for movement; yet when imagined as kites, they simultaneously return to the condition of painting, acknowledging their painted nature. This dynamic is a play of reference and meaning, continually negotiating what constitutes painting and what does not.”

The exhibition title echoes this sense of openness and movement. As the curators note, “The phrase Where the Wind Takes Us evokes unpredictability and possibility. Connecting to the image of kites and the wonder associated with childhood.”

Though Daniel’s work leans toward abstraction, traces of figuration emerge and recede, creating a tension between the seen and the felt. His use of colour is particularly striking, Hot Sheet’s curators, Jasper and Lauren, note, “we love the way Daniel uses colour. It’s both beautiful and complex. His work invites close looking; the overlays and textures have a depth that unfolds the more time you spend with them.”

Where the Wind Takes Us invites viewers into a space not fixed by geography but felt in motion — a space of reverie, memory, and becoming. The exhibition embodies Hot Sheet’s commitment to artists who expand the language of photography into new forms. In Daniel’s case, photographic thinking remains present as a method, but painting now carries it into something more fluid, poetic, and alive.