Katerina Céspedes
Costa Rican Visual Artist
Watercolor · Drawing · Mixed Media
Original works exploring animals, nature, memory, relationships and the living systems that exist beyond what we can immediately see.
Based in Costa Rica · Original works available internationally
Looking Beyond the Visible
My work begins with observation.
Animals, aquatic life, botanical forms and landscapes become a way of exploring individuality, movement, relationships and the environments that shape living beings.
Working primarily with watercolor and mixed media, I use transparency, layering, fluidity and controlled accident to explore what can be seen—and what remains beneath the surface.
As my practice develops, the work increasingly moves beyond the isolated subject toward the relationships, biological processes, environments and histories that surround it.
What do we actually know about another living being from what we can see?
Selected Works
Aquatic Studies
Life in a fluid environment.
Water is both environment and material.
Through sea turtles, sharks, koi and jellyfish, these works explore movement, interaction, transparency and the relationship between an organism and the environment that surrounds it.
Watercolor becomes particularly significant within these works: pigment moves, accumulates, dissolves and overlaps, echoing some of the same qualities present in the environments being observed.
What Remains Unseen
From portrait to living systems.
My recent work asks a simple question:
What do we actually know about another living being from what we can see?
A recognizable body reveals only part of its story.
Behavior, memory, relationships, biological processes, environmental conditions and ecological networks often remain invisible within the image.
What Remains Unseen grows from my earlier observations of individual animals and natural forms and expands them toward a broader investigation of living systems.
Rather than using art simply to illustrate existing knowledge, I am interested in allowing observation and research to transform the way an image is constructed.
Watercolor is central to this process.
Each layer affects the next. Pigment moves beyond complete control. Transparency allows previous states to remain present beneath new ones.
The visible image becomes a record of accumulation, interaction and change.
Elephants / Memory Study
Watercolor and mixed media on paper
100 × 70 cm · 70 × 70 cm · 70 × 30 cm
A three-part exploration of recognition, proximity, memory and relationships between living subjects.
Rather than presenting the animal only as an isolated figure, the work considers fragments, proximity and recognition as different ways of understanding another living being.
Private Collection / Not Currently for Sale
Original Animal Portraits
A portrait beyond resemblance.
I accept a limited number of private commissions for original animal portraits.
Each work is individually created from selected photographs, with particular attention to expression, gesture, gaze and the characteristics that make each animal recognizable as an individual.
These are original artworks, not digital reproductions.
Original Study
From US$350
Approx. 20 × 30 cm
One animal
Watercolor on paper
Minimal background
Signed original
Signature Portrait
From US$550
Approx. 30 × 45 cm
One animal
Watercolor and mixed media
Developed composition
Signed original
Collector Portrait
From US$850
Approx. 45 × 60 cm
One or two animals
Developed composition and environment
Watercolor and mixed media
Signed original
Large & Multiple-Subject Works
From US$1,200
Custom size and composition.
50% deposit reserves the commission.
International inquiries welcome.
About Katerina Céspedes
Katerina Céspedes is a Costa Rican visual artist working primarily in watercolor, drawing and mixed media.
Her practice begins with close observation of living subjects—wildlife, domestic animals, aquatic life, botanical forms and landscapes—and explores individuality, gesture, movement, relationships, memory, environment and the material behavior of water and pigment.
Her recent work increasingly moves beyond isolated representation toward the systems and relationships surrounding a visible subject.
Transparency, layering, fluidity and controlled accident are central to this process.
Her artistic practice is informed by more than twenty years of professional experience in visual communication, creative direction and image-making. Since 2024, she has developed an independent fine-art practice focused on observation, living systems and the relationship between visible form and underlying experience.
Based in Costa Rica.
Education
- Master’s in Neuromarketing
Universidad Latina de Costa Rica · 2022 - Master’s in Advertising Administration
Graphic Communication Emphasis
Universidad de las Ciencias y el Arte de Costa Rica · 2008
Collect Original Art
A selection of original watercolor, mixed media and acrylic works is currently available for acquisition.
Each available work is:
- Original and one of a kind
- Signed by the artist
- Accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity
Selected works are available internationally through Saatchi Art.
Art begins with what we can see.
The work continues with what remains unseen.
Explore original works, follow the development of new research, or inquire about a private commission.
Katerina Céspedes
Visual Artist · Costa Rica
Watercolor · Drawing · Mixed Media
Works · About · Research · Commissions · Available Art
© Katerina Céspedes · Website hosted by KTC Publicitaria
