Arianna Montoya (b. 1998, San José, Costa Rica) is a self-taught oil painter whose work explores the blurred boundaries between perception, memory, and reality. Her paintings are built through slow, layered processes that combine abstraction and figuration, often evoking dreamlike spaces where emotion, memory, and time overlap.

Before fully dedicating herself to painting, Montoya studied communications and worked in production, advertising, and media. These experiences inform her understanding of image-making and visual storytelling, while her transition into fine art marked a personal shift toward introspection, slowness, and the emotional potential of color.

Deeply influenced by her Costa Rican upbringing, Montoya’s work subtly incorporates questions of cultural identity, environment, and the body’s memory. She approaches oil painting as both a material practice and a psychological process, using color to build atmospheric tension and emotional depth.

In 2024, Montoya participated in her first formal exhibition at the Costa Rica Art Fair, establishing her presence within the national art scene. In September 2025, she will begin an MFA in Fine Art at Goldsmiths, University of London, where she aims to expand her practice across new mediums and conceptual frameworks while continuing her investigation into color, perception, and transformation.