We are delighted to welcome Cayetano Sanz de Santamaría to the Studio West Residency.
Based in London and a 2024 MA graduate of the Royal College of Art, Cayetano works across painting and drawing, creating beautifully detailed, psychologically rich compositions.
Emerging from everyday scenes and natural environments, Cayetano’s work positions humans and animals within frenetic, socially charged spaces such as marketplaces, streets, and jungles. Drawing on his life in Colombia, these compositions, and the figures that inhabit them, take on an uneasy, at times ritualistic presence. In some works, animals replace people, misbehaving or transgressing social codes, alluding to the quiet tensions that underpin ordinary life.
Cayetano’s work is anchored by absurdity, in which humans perform meaning theatrically against the backdrop of an indifferent world, brimming with desire, pride, fear, and vulnerability. Animals disrupt this human centre, appearing as allegorical messengers or sacred presences that carry a quiet authority.
Through these compositions, Cayetano invites viewers to navigate spaces that are both familiar and uncanny, where psychological tension and myth quietly intertwine.
“Contemplation of Omacha”, Oil on Linen, 75x55cm
This painting draws on the
Amazonian myth of the pink river dolphin, a
shapeshifter who moves between human and
animal forms. Here, the being emerges from the
waters in a moment of still reflection, its gaze
lowered toward a river poisoned by mercury
from illegal mining. The work holds a quiet
tension: the dolphin-man contemplates not only
its own dual identity, but also the fragility of its
home. Between myth and reality, the painting
becomes a meditation on loss, transformation,
and the irreversible impact of human forces on the natural world
Blooming of the Sanctified Cattleya Under The Jaguar Moon, Oil on linen, 85x75cm
This painting captures a vision born of the
ayahuasca ritual, where the forest itself
becomes a guide. Spirit-beings in the form of
animal masks emerge from the shadows,
protectors and messengers who reveal the
way forward. At the center, a glowing orchid
radiates as a symbol of spiritual truth, the
destination of the journey.
The work speaks to the jungle as a living
intelligence, one that reveals itself not
through conquest but through surrender and
vision. It evokes the shamanic understanding
that ayahuasca is not only medicine but also a
teacher, illuminating truths otherwise hidden from the waking mind.
Offering of the Arapaima, Oil on linen, 80x140 cm
The Arapaima (pirarucú), one of the
Amazon’s most revered beings, is raised high
above the waters like an offering. For many
Amazonian peoples, fish are not mere resources
but kin—spirits to whom gratitude is owed.
Legends recall the Arapaima as a fallen warrior,
transformed into a fish and condemned to the
river, embodying both strength and humility.
Here, the act of lifting the creature becomes both a
gesture of reverence and of communion, a
recognition that survival is bound to respect. The
painting speaks to a cosmology where every being
holds spirit, and to a philosophy of
interdependence that contemporary societies are only beginning to relearn.
The Undeniable Truth, Oil on linen, 2025
Painting of @manuelacabrales and Filippo the cat guiding me through my subconscious mind.
This painting is currently showing at @whiteshepherd_gallery
“Spontaneous Acts of Foolish Bravery”, Oil on Linen, 100x125cm “Spontaneous Acts of Foolish Bravery” draws inspiration from that fleeting, impulsive moment when one chooses to take on a challenge—often under the influence of alcohol—despite the high likelihood of failure or disaster. At the heart of the piece is the Bonnacon, a mythical horse-bull creature symbolizing raw, unrestrained courage. However, this force of bravery is misguided by a man wearing a crocodile mask and a Sombrero Vueltiao—a traditional Colombian hat—leading the creature unknowingly into a path with hidden dangers.
“Aquí Llego el Chistesito!”, Oil on Linen, 70x85cm.
This painting is inspired by the Marimonda and the power of humor.
The Marimonda is one of the most iconic and playful characters of the Carnival of Barranquilla. Known for its long-nosed mask, floppy ears, colorful suit, and oversized tie, the Marimonda was created by working-class locals as a humorous way to mock the elite and authority figures. Full of energy and mischief, this character brings the spirit of satire and rebellion to the carnival, turning the social order upside down with silly dances, pranks, and exaggerated gestures. A true symbol of joy, humor, and cultural pride.
I am incredibly honored to be showing this painting beside other very talented artists at the @lupo.lupo.lupo.lupo Summer Fling group show on July 2, 2025 in Milan, Italy.
LUPO Summer fling show 2025
@seohyunzzx@mart.cinotti@zsy.111
Cayetano Sanz de Santamaría works from instinct, memory, and technical skill. His practice spans drawing, etching, and painting, guided by a sensitivity to storytelling that is as intuitive as it is intentional. The characters that emerge from his lines, sometimes tender, sometimes uncanny, echo the mythologies of his Colombian heritage while drifting into more personal terrains.
In this dialogue, Cayetano reflects on studio rituals, music, unfinished works, and the quiet ways his homeland continues to shape his practice. His approach favours patience over perfection, trusting unresolved images to hold meaning with time. Drawing remains his clearest language, a space for improvisation and introspection.
There is a patience to Cayetano’s approach, an embrace of trial, error, and the slow reveal. He speaks of drawing as his truest language, a space where ideas arrive unfiltered and where narrative begins without needing to declare itself. Rather than discarding what feels unresolved, he stores these works like time capsules, trusting that meaning often arrives later. His practice is as much about building images as it is about preserving states of mind, traces of thought, feeling, and place, held gently in line.
Colombia is ever-present in his work, not as a subject to define, but as a spirit woven through it. In borrowed symbols and imagined beings, Cayetano offers glimpses of its soul to those who pause long enough to see.
Read the full dialogue via link in bio.
