Ana Laura López de la Torre

Like Vitale, I was born in Montevideo in a family of economic migrants. Aged 19, I moved to Europe escaping my parents’ expectations of marriage and university. After training as a woodcarver and working in a religious sculpture workshop in Madrid during the 1990s, I gradually transitioned towards conceptual art, seeking a happier encounter between artistic vocation and political activism. In 1997, I graduated with an MA from Central St Martins College of Art & Design. With growing interest in socially-oriented work came commissions from public institutions: Whitechapel Gallery, Gasworks, Arts & Business, La Casa Encendida (Madrid), Tate Modern and Tate Britain.