Catalina Justiniano

(Lily Maria Catalina Justiniano Berardi)

Born in Valparaiso, Chile, Catalina moved to Santiago in 1985 where 15 years later a friend said, “You need to paint, you are an artist!” She put brushes in Catalina’s hands and said,
“Paint something.” Catalina immediately loved working with colors but having never learned to draw she gave up on creating shapes and instead focused on the feelings the various colors evoked along with the contrasts and blending of different tints and hues.

Catalina signed up for oil painting classes with another friend who was teaching how to paint flowers. Later she studied with renowned Chilean artist PanchoVillalon for over two years.
Through his guidance, she learned the use of acrylics and how to joyfully combine and layer colors without fear and how to discover shapes appearing from this random organic process.

In search of new methods she then studied under another well-known Chilean artist, Manuel Peris,to learn other oil techniques.
She loved the quality of the colors oils provided her but preferred the effects she could achieve with acrylics as well as the short drying times.
She eventually learned to combine the best qualities of both mediums on the same canvas to achieve her desired look.

Justiniano continues to explore a variety of materials and techniques to achieve different affects and textures. However; she stays true to her first love of color and how they combine to make her feel. The numerous techniques she uses to layer and present colors create unique ethereal sensations of strange worlds and shapes that are perceived differently by every viewer. Catalina likes working in large format but acknowledging the desires of some art lovers who find those paintings inaccessible and to experiment with new techniques she also creates smaller pieces.