Marte, Daldo
Cuba, 1982
During childhood and adolescence, Daldo Marte began crafting his own toys. At first, he used paper, then carton board, until he finally discovered a unique way to make his toys. He started using the inner rubber tubes from old car tires to create a great diversity of little figures: animals, humanoids, spaceships and all kind of creatures from his own fantasy and from the favorite comics and cartoons. Some of them are cut with incredible precision out of rubber with a pair of scissors, while others form an ensemble of various independent pieces that he cuts out separately in order to create a dimensional figure. He also makes armors just like the ones the superheroes use, which he crafts from recycled carton board and plastic. He wears them to walk through the streets of his neighborhood. His mother says that in those moments he becomes more out going, as if those armors gave him protection to go out with out fear. Once, Daldo Marte made a functioning raft out of recycled plastic bottles. He still has it and sometimes uses it to sail near the coast, as if he were a captain of the boat.
